The Iron Chain Game
by AzuraHarrison
Summary: Life is nothing but a series of games to Ramsay Bolten and his newest player just walked through the bar door. Upset after having gotten into a fight with his boyfriend Theon Greyjoy goes for a drink, only he chose the wrong bar to walk into to. (Graphic torture, non con, All stuff that Ramsay Bolten does ect) Cross uploaded with ao3.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own GOT just using the characters.

* * *

Buying a house is not easy for anyone but for Robb and Theon it was like Monopoly. Nothing but fighting over which property they would buy.

It was nearly midnight and even though everyone else in their apartment building was asleep they were up and at it yelling at each other, not caring if their neighbours heard. Theon rubbed a hand through his long hair as he was trying to calm his self-down as Robb was letting him know what was on mind.

"You are such an idiot Theon!" Robb yelled at him throwing a small piles of papers at him. Theon narrowly missed them and retorted by standing right up to Robb's face and raising his voice.

"I'm not you're just being stubborn!" He yelled back. He was sick of Robb and his attitude towards all of this.

Robb worked in a police station, just like his father had and he was working his way to the promotion and even possibly becoming the commissioner. Theon on the other hand worked with his father's company 'Iron born Ships', they sold boats and other types of ship materials. He didn't exactly enjoy it but since the shop he worked in was based in a big city he got a decent amount from it.

It had only been a week since they started trying to decide what house they would buy and yet already they were having heated arguments on what they should go for. Robb wanted something close to his family just a little bit outside of the town while Theon wanted something that was close to his job in the centre of town.

"The one you want is too expensive." He said looking at the folder that Robb had gathered on the house that had caught his eye. While it did look like something out of a home comfort magazine there was a total amount of $466,493. Only a Lannister could have afforded that and not have to worry about debts or anything.

"But it's so much better. Your one is in a traffic heavy area. If I'm working long hours I don't want to be constantly woken up." He understood that it was important to Robb that he got his sleep but the house was nice, close to both of their jobs and most importantly it was within their price range. It wasn't perfect but it was the best option they had.

"We have out budget set. If you want to buy that one I know you'll ask for help from Cat. I don't like asking for her charity. You know how we feel about each other." He looked to the side at a Stark family photo which had Robb, Catelyn, Arya, Sansa, Rickon, Bran and Jon. All but Ned was there.

Theon knew it must have been difficult to move away from his family but it wasn't that bad and if they wanted to it was only a two hours' drive away. Family was important to Robb but it was to Theon as well and if they went with Robb's idea he would pretty much be completely isolated form his father and his sister.

"I know she hasn't taken to you yet but I'm sure that if you let me ask for her help she would see how happy we are." He said trying to de tense the situation but it was clear that by him bringing up his mother only made Theon more annoyed. Her relationship with him was as good as the one she had with Jon. True her husband made her believe it was his for the first 20 years of his life but even after being told he was actually just his nephew she still didn't exactly take to him.

"Cat is never going to like me. I've tried but she doesn't take to me." He complained. He had honestly tried his best to get her approval but it was obvious she would never like him.

"Well maybe she would feel better about you if you weren't so difficult half the time and maybe she could trust you." He knew his mother was difficult on him but she sort of had a reason to do so. The Greyjoy's had a history of working with the Lannister family and they directly were involved with Ned's death.

"She doesn't trust my dad so she hates me by default." Theon really did want to be a part of their family but it seemed like it would be another long while before that ever happened.

"There was the time you were meant to look after the house and we ended up being robbed. You were so useless." If there was one thing Theon hated it was being reminded of his past mistakes. He remembered the day that Catlin Stark lost her little amount of trust in him as he accidently left the door unlocked and robbers stole some of their most valued possessions, including Ned Starks Officer of the year award. Thankfully they were able to get everything back but Cat had never forgiven him for it.

As the bad memories were clouding his mind he realised that there was no way in hell he could deal with any more of this tonight. "I'm going for a drink." He said not even looking at him while his voice cracked. Robb knew that Theon's voice would crack if he was going to cry and it was at this point he realised that he had probably crossed a line he shouldn't have.

"Theon, Wait!" He said but he brushed past him to go get his things. Theon didn't even bother getting a jacket, he was too mad to even consider it. He just needed to get away from the stress of it all. He momentarily looked around for his wallet and he left slamming the door hard.

Robb was left alone, feeling like utter crap. He sat on the sofa and tried to think of how he could make it up to him when he got back. He covered his face with his hands and tried to clear his head. It never got that heated between them and he didn't know what to do next. He supposed he could just make it up to him in the morning when he got back.

Theon waited until he was out in the car before he started to cry. He wasn't going to let Robb see him break down then give him false sympathies. The tears were salty but he didn't really notice due to his growing up around salt water half the time. He was trying to think of what to do next. He wiped his face and then took a breath to try and regain his composure. He had experienced a lot of stressful night but this one took the cake. If there was one thing that he could always rely on to make him chill out it was alcohol.

This wasn't his most stressful night however. No, that's where Ramsay Bolten came in.


	2. Chapter 2

Theon's night was like a game of Mafia. He kept on noticing all kinds of shifty people in the poor lit bar. He hadn't been to this place before but he didn't want Robb to come looking for him in his usual spot so a secluded bar was his best option. The smell of smoke was coming from the general bar area so Theon tried to take a place as far away as he could.

There weren't that many people in the pub but the ones who were here seemed like they either wanted to murder him or mug him. Either way Theon just wanted to get a drink and go somewhere. Probably to Yara's place.

He was thinking over the argument and he was mentally cringing at himself. He couldn't believe that had happened. The worst part was that he wasn't sure who the bad guy was. Robb had been the one yelling violently but Theon knew himself that he could be a total dick and not realise it. Theon feared he might have said something personal and he didn't know it. He rubbed a hand though his hair and tried to stop himself from freaking out in a public area.

"Hey, you look like you need a drink." Theon looked around for the source of the voice and when he turned around a pair of blue eyes and black curly hair greeted him. Theon was almost sure he recognised him but he couldn't place where it was. Out of everyone there he seemed the friendliest. The stranger also had a weird voice but Theon was willing to give him a chance and besides if he was sitting with someone one of the other drunken weirdos might leave him alone.

"Yeah, I could actually." He admitted and the guy smirked. He had no idea what Theon was doing in a place like this but then again he wasn't going to question it. It wasn't often that he got an opportunity where his precious Theon was away from the eldest Stark.

The man sat down on the chair facing him and got comfortable. Theon did think he was cute when he was able to get a closer look at his face. He kind of had a young boyish charm about him but he seemed like a rebel, something Theon liked very much. He bit his lip as he remembered that he was already in a relationship, soon to be married. He wouldn't cheat on Robb for revenge, he wasn't that petty.

"My names Theon. What about you?" He asked suddenly realising that he hadn't even asked the kind gentleman what his name was.

"I'm Ramsay. Ramsay Bolton. My dad worked with your mother on a city project. I'm pretty sure we went to the same college, I saw you around campus a couple of times." He said looking through his phone and finding a photo he had been forced to take of his father and Cat smiling while in front of a refurbished park with a new disabled section. She had been desperate for this project after Bran had become paralysed after an incident in city hall. Theon didn't actually believe that it was Cat, she had never smiled like that in front of him.

"That's why you're familiar. I couldn't place you." As soon as he saw Roose's face it came back to him. The Bolton family. They never met in college but Theon would hear whispers about his many girlfriends and tales of how he got into drunken fights with dudes. He sounded intense but now he seemed like a reasonable guy. Maybe he had calmed down after college? Theon moved away a small bit hoping that Ramsay wouldn't notice.

"That's okay. I recognised you instantly. I couldn't forget your face." This took Theon by surprise. He was the one who people didn't even notice, the one who was overlooked in classes, so to have someone who he never spoke to recognise him was something else. It was slightly creepy the way he phrased it but it was sort of a compliment so he let it slip.

Ramsay had seen his face only once in real life before, the rest after that had been though photos, cameras and even windows. Ramsay wouldn't say he was obsessed, more that he was just very thorough in getting his information. They both then remembered that none of them were talking so they were left in awkward silence.

Theon didn't really know what to say next so he just shifted in his seat again hoping that Ramsay would say something to break the tension.

"What brings you here? You look like shit. No offense." It wasn't the perfect way to have a conversation but Theon was grateful for it at least. Seeing Greyjoy in the Crossroad pub was unusual to say the least. Ramsay was hoping that he had a rough night so that he could take total advantage of it.

"Just got into a fight with boyfriend. I just need a couple of drinks before I can even go back into the apartment." He joked, Ramsay seemingly laughing along but not for the reason he thought. This was better than Ramsay could have hoped.

"Let's just say I'm here because my last relationship didn't work out as planned. They weren't good at my games." He said with a sigh. Theon looked confusedly at him. He was trying to figure out what he had meant by games but he seemed like the type of guy who would probably be the one to play pranks. What else could it have meant?

Theon realised he still hadn't gotten the drinks. "What about the drinks? We haven't got them yet. I'll go up and-" He was cut off by Ramsay getting up first.

"I'll get them, this time. You can pay me back later." He said almost a little to eagerly. He put on a smile and went up to the bar. Theon was chuffed he didn't have to get them but he was going to remain vigilant. He didn't know what type of catch there would be.

Ramsay walked up to the bar and looked at what he had on the shelves. He scanned for the specific items and smiled when all was there in place.

He ordered something he knew that Theon liked. A mixture of Whiskey, Cointreau, Lemon, Orange and just a hint of ginger. He had stalked him for long enough to know what his drink of choice was, and just to be sure he stalked him through his Facebook photos and sure enough the drink was in his hand almost every time.

The Bartender handed him the drink and the crappy quality beer that he ordered himself. While the bartender was busy with another customer he used this distraction as the opportunity to take a small bottle out of his pocket. He unscrewed the lid and poured the clear liquid into the yellow coloured drink, keeping it covered so Theon wouldn't see what he was doing.

Normally he would be using rohypnol for this type of job but his half-brother assured him that this new drug would take effect almost instantly and would last the right amount of time so that Theon would be awake by the time he was locked up in Ramsay's game room.

He waited a couple of seconds until he was sure it was all mixed in. His father always told him poison was a woman's weapon and if he wanted someone he should work and get them for his self. Ramsay didn't care for his father's opinion very much, also it wasn't technically a poison.

Ramsay walked back to the table and placed both drinks down. He handed Theon the drink and he was never more grateful for anything in his life. He didn't even stop to consider how the mild acquaintance of his was able to know exactly what his signature drink. He didn't care at this point. He just needed something to chill him out after the argument.

He took one sip and swallowed it. Ramsay was waiting to see if he noticed anything peculiar about the drink. Theon waited a few seconds, moving his tongue around to get a better taste of it and continued to drink it.

Theon didn't know what way this bar made his normal drink but it was very sweet, he guessed that they had added some candied Lemon zest to it. Not that he was complaining though. Robb always told him that he had a sweet tooth. Theon would always reply when he made a snarky comment by saying he got the sweetest person on the planet.

He downed it all in one. Ramsay didn't do that with his drink, he on the other hand was slowly sipping at his beer, biding his time. He felt a satisfied smirk on his face when he put the glass down.

"That was great, thanks I needed that." He

Ramsay and him began to talk for a couple of minutes about random stuff, noting in particular just stuff like how Ramsay came to spending his night in a rancid bar. It was only about 20 minutes later that Theon began to falter. He put a hand to his head thinking it was stop the feeling.

"You okay?" Ramsay asked with fake concern.

"I think I drank it too quickly." He said trying to shake his head to get rid of the dizziness coming over him but it didn't seem to be working. He guessed that it was a stronger whiskey then he was used to or perhaps the bar made it with a stronger brand of alcohol.

He tried to remain upright but he was losing his senses at an alarming rate.

"I'll get you out of here." He helped Theon's arm around his shoulder despite his protests that he would be okay to walk on his own. Theon looked around but no one else in the bar seemed to notice. He didn't want to be taken by some guy he barely knew, he didn't even get the chance to give him the name of the apartment.

He tried to see what car it was but he was on the verge of passing out. He wanted to get a taxi but it seemed as though Ramsay had other ideas. Theon couldn't think very straight but he only now considered the possibility that he had been drugged and now that this guy was going to drag him off and probably murder him.

Murder would have been the better alternative for him. He underestimate how far that this had been planned in advance. He had been watching Theon ever since he had been invited to a Stark house party. There was something about him that caught his eye. He didn't know what exactly it was. Perhaps it was seeing him so confident in himself or maybe it was the fact that he hadn't had a good torture in ages and he happened to be the first cute person he saw after having the thought. Either way he had spent time researching him and he knew that he just had to have him. One way or another.

And of course there was the added bonus of hurting the self-righteous prick known as Robb Stark.

With Robb being in the police force they had a lengthy conversation that in the _'unlikely event'_ that if Theon was being kidnapped then he should try and throw a possession away so that people could find it like a driver's licence or something that could identify him. He was to dizzy to get anything out of his pockets and Ramsay would notice if he dropped anything noticeable but there was one thing he could use.

The small silver ring around his finger.

It was the engagement ring that Robb had given him a month ago. It was a small ring but it had very detailed engraving of the ocean with a small black pearl in it. It had cost Robb a small fortune but it had all been worth it when he saw Theon's face light up and was then attacked with kisses. It had been such a good time for them.

He didn't want to throw it away but then again if he kept it Ramsay would just take it from him and probably pawn it to some tacky pawn shop and get it for only half of what Robb paid for it.

Theon got it off of his finger thankfully without Ramsay noticing. He faked a cough as he dropped it on the ground and he heard the clink as it hit the stones but once again Ramsay remained unobservant of it. He held theon up more as two unsuspecting people walked by, assuming he was just drunk and his friend was helping him get home.

Theon couldn't use his voice. His brain was too jumbled to think.

Theon was pretty much out of it by the time that Ramsay had thrown him in the back seat of his car. He tried to reach out but Ramsay looked down at him like he was pathetic.

"You played the first game with me and lost. Now you have to face the punishment. And guess what Theon? It's another game."


	3. Chapter 3

" _You were so useless!"_

Robb shot up from the sofa as he heard the events of last night replaying in his head. He rubbed his face and fell back down. The memories were fresh in his head. It was hard to believe that he had said that to him, it was so unlike him.

Now that he had slept on it he realised that he was the one who had been the asshole. He had taken it too far and maybe they could have worked it out better if they both had remained calm. Robb looked to the bedroom door thinking that Theon was in there sleeping. He knew he had to make it up to him and knew just how to do it.

Robb began to make Theon breakfast. When they got into fights Theon would always come back to the house when he was asleep and in the morning which ever one had been the asshole during the fight made the other breakfast. He cracked two eggs into a bowl and began to whisk them together adding small amount of chocolate chips and buttermilk. He hated making this dish because it left his hands and the kitchen a total mess but since it was for Theon it would be worth it.

For when Theon was the ass he always made Robb some toast which was almost blackened with eggs done sunny side up. Theon was surprisingly a very good cook but he almost never did it. He had been taught by his sister seeing as their mother wasn't really around to help.

When the chocolate pancakes were done he plated it up and present it nicely, He didn't like the sweet stuff but Theon loved it so it was the sure fire way to make up for last night. He also made a small cup of hot chocolate as well. Theon was going to be so happy that he would forget all about what happened last night.

He walked in with a smile expecting to find Theon waiting for him. You can imagine how shocked Robb was when instead of a warm body there was just a pile of crumpled blankets. He pulled the sheets back just to make sure he wasn't under them but when he found that he wasn't there he put a hand to his chin curiously.

He put down the tray and immediately pulled out his phone trying to find if any messages had been left for him. When he saw no new notifications he began to try and think of where else he could be. If Theon was out after a fight he would always send him a text if he was going to stay with Yara or Sansa. To have no messages from him and it being about 12 hours later was concerning him but Robb kept his cool. He knew there had to be some logical reason why this was happening. He was an officer of the law so naturally he assumed the worst all the time, thinking that Theon was kidnapped or something extreme like that but he pushed those thoughts aside. What's the worst that could have happened to him?

He first tried Theon's number. He bit his lip waiting for a reply. He thought that he had picked up but unfortunately it just turned out to be his messaging machine.

" _Hey, Theon Geryjoy (Soon to be Stark) here. I can't talk right now so just leave a message."_

"Theon call me when you get a chance." He said hoping that it would be heard soon. This was weird and more importantly out of his control. When Robb didn't have control of his situation then he suffered because of it and often other people suffered as well. That happened a lot with his job.

"Dammit Theon where are you?" He asked himself trying the number again.

When neither of them picked up he ran to go get his car keys. As he searched the bowl he realised that Theon must have decided to take the car last night. He should have remembered that but everything was kind of hazy at the moment.

It looked like that for the first time in a while a Stark would have to get public transport.

He rang the doorbell of the house and waited for a reply.

"Hi Robb what are you doing here?" Sansa asked happily yet surprised by his appearance.

"I'm here to get Theon." He said trying to look in to see where he was, thinking that he must have been too drunk to come home so he crashed at his sisters place.

"He's not here but mum is. We're making tea."

He didn't want tea he wanted to find his fiancé but if he didn't say hello to Cat he would never hear the end of it from her. He gave a quick sure and she brought him into the kitchen. Catelyn was sipping her tea when she nearly spat it out in shock.

"Robb. What are you doing here?" She didn't get to see her son often so to see him here was rather a surprise.

"I thought Theon might be here. He didn't come home last night." Robb said looking around. Catelyn rolled her eyes as the only time she had seen her son and it was because of that Greyjoy.

"Robb I'm sure your fiancé is fine." Cat tried to reassure him, her words seeming not to get to him. He was pacing around and this was bothering her majorly. She didn't pay for curtesy lessons when he was young to develop such bad habits.

"It's been over 12 hours he should have been back by now." The longest he had ever been gone before was about 5 hours and even then he wrote a very drunk text message to say that he was staying with Sansa and Petyr.

"He's probably passed out somewhere from drinking." She wasn't wrong. She just didn't know she was right yet. This wasn't the first time that Theon had gotten black out drunk and passed out somewhere. Sansa shot her a quick glance to try and get her to not bash Theon in front of Robb but she clearly didn't get the message.

"I know but I've called him 23 times." He admitted under his breath. She turned around and stared him down.

"Robb Stark! You can't rely on him like this since your father…" She got a flash of nostalgia as she remembered her husband. Thinking back to the day he had been killed in the line of duty. Ever since he died in the line of duty Robb had been so angry. Mostly because of the guilt he felt, nothing was his fault he just wished he could have been a better son.

Then Theon Greyjoy came along. He was a decent person but he was unreliable. She tried to let go of the fact that he had left the house unlocked because they got all the possessions back in the end but she just couldn't stand his irresponsibility. He had apologised countless times but she just couldn't forgive him.

"Mother, I know you don't like him but he has supported me and this family since then. Please, we're getting married." He gave her the defeated sounding tone in his voice.

As soon as he brought up the fact that they were going to be married she sighed as she knew she couldn't win this. She flipped her phone and began to input his number. "Fine. I'll call him. He always picks up my calls because he know well that if he doesn't I'll hunt him down." She laughed trying to lighten the mood.

"Thank you." He nodded with appreciation.

It began to ring for a couple of minutes and when she tired at least 3 times with no response she put her phone down in frustration.

"Well the nerve of him! Why don't you go and see Yara? If he didn't come home he might've gone to stay with her for the night." She suggested not wanting to see her son in a panic. She may not have liked Theon but she hated the other Greyjoy's more.

Robb thanked Sansa for the tea and his mother for giving him help and set off to the Greyjoy family business. So once more he was on his quest to find out where his fiancé was. Little did he know he wouldn't be seeing him again for a while.

* * *

Robb entered the docks and looked around. Business seemed to be good for the Greyjoy's at the moment as people were looking around the various ships and yachts. The salty stench was hitting him right in the face. It was driving him crazy with reminding him of Theon.

From what he remembered being told his sister Yara was always found on her ship 'The iron price' which was quite impressive. It would have been Theon's ship but he had been living with the Starks at the time so his father Balon never considered him in the running.

Robb didn't despise anyone but he came close with Balon. He had never approved of Robb's relationship with him and at one point had even smacked him for saying that he was in love with him.

He walked up to the boat and knocked on the door. It seemed to echo inside and he waited for any sign that there was anyone inside.

He was relieved when he heard rustling from the inside.

Out stepped the one and only Yara Greyjoy. He looked different from the last time he saw her but she still looked well. She scanned him up and down and was tempted to just slam the door in his face.

Theon was once removed from the Greyjoy family as Ned Stark suspected their father of abusing him. While it was partially true Yara didn't see it as being that harsh. The case was dropped and he was returned soon after. Balon hated the Starks after that so naturally to find out his son was going to be marrying the first born son of Ned got a violent reaction out of him.

Robb remembered the temptation to lock him up on the spot so much he could taste it now.

"What are you doing here Stark? Here to arrest me?" She said with her eyes rolled. She noticed how odd he looked. Like he had been running around all day trying to track him down.

"I just wanted to see Theon. I wanted to say I'm sorry." He said thinking that he would have been here.

"As nice as your apology is, he isn't here." She said sharply. She didn't want to talk to him longer then she had to. She wasn't surprised that he was going to apologize for something. Yara wanted someone who would treat her brother right and she didn't think that Robb was the person to do it.

Robb was going slightly into panic mode. He wasn't answering his phone, he hadn't called Yara and he hadn't told anyone where he was. This was not like Theon at all.

Yara drew him from his thoughts "We'll have you checked with your sister? Sandra was it?"

"Sansa and yes. He wasn't there either. They suggested I come here." This defiantly got a reaction from her as well. She knew her brother as well as Robb did and knew this was unusual of him. She drew up the conclusion that it must have been a really bad fight if Theon didn't want to talk to anyone.

She got up close and personal with him. "I'm going to give you some advice Stark. LEAVE HIM ALONE. He likes his space and you should give him it."

"Your right. I'm sure he'll be back soon. He has to be." He didn't have the energy to fight and they were probably right. He knew he was overreacting to the whole situation and should wait for a couple of more hours before beginning to fully panic.

He felt like he was playing a game of hide and seek with Theon.

* * *

Theon had, without a doubt, the worst hangover he had ever had in his life. It was splitting him apart. When he tried to move his arms they didn't feel like anything, yet the felt like they were weighing a ton.

The scent of death was present. Theon had sometimes had to go to the morgue because of a dead person they had found on one of their boats. It smelt like salt and rotting flesh. The salt he could handle but the flesh was too much and he had needed to throw up after words. He was getting that sick feeling again but he didn't feel like his throat could handle it. It felt like he hadn't had a drink of water in years.

He could pick up a distinct tapping sound on the floor and he was trying to determine whether or not it was water or a person tapping their foot.

He looked like he was in some kind of dungeon from the medieval times. I was made of stone and had the feel of being real. If he wasn't mistake he would have sworn that he was in the year 1066.

Theon looked around but on the floor in front of him there lay various decaying body parts. As soon as he registered what was going on he was beginning to try and wriggle away but there was something else restricting his movements. Rough slightly rusted iron bound his wrists and he was as awake as he could be. He tried to move by it seemed he was tied to a big wooden X shaped cross.

"Wake up sun shine." Said a voice in front of him, most likely the one who had been tapping his foot. His vision was becoming more focused but he could just about make out some type of face and black hair on top of it.

Ramsay had just been waiting for him to wake up. While he had been attaching him to the giant X shaped cross his fiancé Robb had left a voice mail and he sounded delightfully desperate. He was contemplating letting his new little prisoner hear it but he withheld. If Theon was given even the tiniest particle of hope then he wouldn't break as easily.

"Ramsay? What happened?" The last thing he remembered was getting into a fight with Robb, going to a bar, meeting the black haired good looking guy and then it was all a hazy mess from there. He tried to pull his hand but they were bound by chains. Theon saw this and his struggling became more violent. He had no idea what he had done but he knew that even when he was drunk he would never consent to something like this.

"You felt a little bit sick so I took you to my place. Then again that tends to be the side effect of the drug." He added a small smile to the end of the sentence and watched Theon's face come to the realisation that Ramsay had knocked him out and chained him to this thing. As soon as he registered the full situation he tried to look for a way out. He was in some kind of damp basement. He looked around for a window but there was no other lights in the room apart from the old fashioned torches that were all along the walls.

"Did you-?" He couldn't finish the sentence he was too frightened. He felt disgusted that he had allowed himself to fall for such a stupid trick. Letting some stranger by him a drink. He should have remembered Robb's advice. He wished he could be here right now.

"Yes. Do you know why I did it?" This was one of the first questions he always asked his prisons and each one had a different response. Some were petty, some were funny but overall most of them were boring. Something Ramsay wouldn't tolerate.

Theon was too scared to answer him. He wasn't the man he had met last night. The one from last night was charming and willing to listen, this one just seemed like a creepy psychopath. He was an idiot for getting into the fight with his soon to be husband. Maybe if he hadn't then this wouldn't be happening to him.

"Answer me!" He said suddenly turning violent and banging on the wood to get a response from him. Theon shuddered and tried to form a response in his head. The words were jumbling about in his head but he couldn't form them. The fear of knowing that if he said anything wrong it could mean an instant knife to the throat.

"Be-cc-ause I was there?" He asked hoping that he was somewhat right. He could tell by the sudden change that he was the type that was violent and they could appear calm but it was masking a storm underneath. Theon had given a boring answer.

"Correct, partially." He wasn't going to give away his plan for him quite just yet.

"I want you here because I- you know what on second thoughts no. I'm not going to tell you. Not yet anyway." He was delighted. He loved the first day his victims were here. It was always a mix of confusion, fear, anger and crying. He loved it so much he always had a camera secretly recording it. If he ever had a rough day he would go home and watch them. Not doing anything in particular just overserve the emotion on their faces. Watching as they tried to comprehend the situation.

The only problem was after a while those faces started to fade and there was no variety anymore. And Ramsay was prone to get bored easily. When they made him bored he did what everyone else did when they got bored. They got rid of the thing that was boring him and went in each of a new thing to keep him entertained, and the cycle continued.

"What are you going to do with me?"

"You're going to be here for a while so maybe you should find out over time. If you can live past my games. Normally people don't but I have a very good feeling about you. You seem determined."

Theon knew was fucked.


	4. Chapter 4

Theon had been awake for a couple of hours awake now. He was still trying to think of how he would be able to get out of this. From what he could tell Ramsay was reasonably smart so he thought that maybe reasoning could work with him.

He was thinking through the scenarios that could work. It seemed like he had a pretty old house so maybe if he offered him a place or money then he might let him go. Another thought that came to mind was that he lacked friends and if he acted nice then he would let his guards down and he could use that moment of opportunity to escape. Naturally Robb had told him everything about what kidnappers say and do so he thought he was ready to deal with him.

He thought it would work then another thing caught his eye again. The arms and various blood splatter that made up the room's décor. The worst case scenario was that he was a cold blooded killer incapable of remorse. They could be reasoned with and if you couldn't understand them you couldn't get on their level so escape would be impossible.

He cleared his mind and tried to take a deep breath but the stench was making it hard for him not to vomit in the process. He was muttering a plan to himself when the door at the top of the steps opened up and Ramsay decided to make himself known. The creek of each step was heightening Theon's nerves. As he walked down he felt adrenaline going through his veins as he saw what seemed to be a very sharp, serrated knife.

Ramsay looked Theon up and down and nodded. He was ready for the first game.

"Good morning! It's a beautiful day outside." He said in a cherry voice, annoying Theon. He would give anything to be able to stretch his legs in the sun. Being attached to the wooden cross for nearly a full day was making his muscles sore as hell and the chains that were on his wrists weren't helping either.

"It's time for the first game. I call it screamer. I take a knife and begin to cut you, if you scream you lose but if you don't scream for the entire time I give you food." He said excitedly waiting for Theon's reaction.

Theon knew he would need the food to survive but he could risk a lot by playing. It wasn't exactly the most hygienic place and he doubted that Ramsay would give him some medical assistance.

When Ramsay didn't get the reaction he wanted he held the knife right up to his neck and watched as he began to squirm. He went to close to his hear and whispered, the heat of his breath touching his ear. "Let's begin. Shall we?"

He took the knife from the neck and cut off Theon's shirt he had been wearing in the bar. It was a grey top which looked rather old and worn out. He slashed it off and he saw Theon's fear beginning to grow. He could have also swore that he saw a tear forming in his eye. What Ramsay didn't know was that he had just ripped up the first T-shirt that Theon had slept in the first night he slept over with Robb. It had been Robb's grey top but since Theon was smaller than him and he was his boyfriend he claimed it as a pyjama top. He loved it because it just had that distinct Stark smell, a mixture of musk and Grey Wind's fur. To anyone else it would be horrid but not to Theon.

After some careful thoughts Ramsay knew he would begin near the top of the torso. He made the first cut and Theon was almost tempted to lose the game on the first turn. He could feel it seeping out and he physically had to bite down on his tongue so that he didn't make a sound.

The pain of the cut was testing his will power to keep his mouth shut. He knew that he would need the food for when he got hungry, another useful tip from Robb. Ramsay was so hoping that he would scream on the first turn just so that he could see the look on his face when he realised he'd lost.

"You're doing it quite well. Most people lost on the first go." He was impressed but still not satisfied. He wanted to make Theon cry, beg and overall scream if he could but he was giving him a fair chance here.

Ramsay worked the knife like an artist with a paintbrush. Carefully sliding it from left to right, causing the canvas to change from a light peach to a bloody red. Theon's was obviously in more pain but he wouldn't let Ramsay know that. He was still somehow managing to supress the urge to vocalise it. He often had to silence himself but those were in normal situations with Robb when they had guests in their house but they still wanted to do it with each other.

Ramsay was looking at his work, trying to think of what could cause him to give in. He then looked down and noticed that he still had his trousers on. He then got one of his brilliantly twisted ideas. Theon through tear filled eyes looked and tried not to look at him. He looked like a pure psychopath.

The knife was making his way down to the genital area and this is when Theon really began to squirm. As he dragged it along his chest he began to make a wave style of line in an attempt to get him to scream. Ramsay could tell he was so close but he just needed that last little push.

Theon couldn't control the scream he let out when he felt the knife got just above his cock. It was the most sensitive of his body. Ramsay drew away the knife and Theon almost begged to get it back. He wasn't going to lose this game

"Oh well. You put up a good fight but you lost." Ramsay said knowing how those words were crippling him.

"No, please." He wouldn't accept that he had lost. If his arms were free he would have got down on his knees and grovelled to be forgiven.

"Well since you asked so nicely I suppose." He said filling Theon with hope, not knowing it was another mental trick.

Ramsay took out a small brown sack and Theon was ready for whatever was in it. Ramsay then took it out of the bag and pelted him minuscule breads crumbs, hardly fit for human consumption.

"Well, I gave you food now be grateful you brat." He said about to go up the stairs.

This told him more about what type of person he was then anything he had said. He learned that Ramsay was a sadistic little freak who was smart which essential meant he was going to die here. Theon couldn't reach it for two reasons one was that he was still attached to the X shaped board and he was in too much pain to move even if he could.

"Please." He tried to call out. He didn't need food yet but for the love of god he needed some type of medical assistance for the cuts that had been inflicted onto him.

Ramsay heard him loud and clear but didn't bother turning back round to look at him. "I'll see you tomorrow with another game." He added another cruel laugh and left him on his own.

As soon as Theon was sure that Ramsay was out of earshot he let out his anger in the sound of an anguished cry.

He was so stupid for getting into that argument with Robb. He wanted him here now. He wondered if he was looking for him right now. His eyes were locked in the door as he decided that he would wait for it to be kicked in and then to be taken to the hospital in his arms.

He eventually passed out from the combined pain and exhaustion, the marks still bleeding and making a dripping noise on the floor. He would have remained that way until Ramsay snuck back in and went behind the X.

He blew his small trumpet horn right into his ear, jolting him awake. He screamed and tried to flail away but the chains were still binding him so his movements were minimal.

"You didn't think you could fall asleep yet. You fall asleep when I say you sleep." He said in a possessive tone of voice. If there was one thing he wanted it was total control over his prisoners. He simply indulged in the fact that he had all the power of their lives. Watching Theon struggle was his going to be his favourite past time.

"You bastard! Robb will find me. He's with the police." He tried to yell at him.

Ramsay found it adorable how he was trying to sound tough so he knew the two words that would shut him down in a second flat. _"I know."_

"What…?"

"I know all about you Theon Greyjoy. I know where you live, what time you sleep at and every single thing about your family. Didn't you even wonder last night how I was able to know exactly what drink you had?"

"Why?"

"Enough. I'll see you tomorrow, don't fall asleep or I'll have to come down here again and I hate walking down those big long stairs." He somehow was able to sound so threats despite his slight lisp.

He was left in confusion as the other proceeded to walk up the steps and make the closing of the door very known as he slammed it shut, letting him know that he was tapped in with no way out.

"Robb, please, save me…please…" He whispered to himself as he tried to ignore the pain and try to think of ways he could get out of here. If there was one thing that kept him going it was Robb's wise words of never give up. There were often times when Robb had felt hopeless but he persevered and in the end he was okay.

He was going to begin crying again but then a noise began to distract him. It was a small squeaking sound. He recognised it instantly as often on his father's boat they could be found nesting if it wasn't cleaned properly.

He knew that he wasn't alone in the room. He was going to be sharing with the rats, I acts and god knows what other creepy crawlers hat decided to show themselves that night.

Theon knew that Robb would save him. He had to….?

As soon as the 24th hour after Theon hadn't come home hit, Robb filed a missing person's report. He worked with the police and you can be sure as hell that he was getting everyone he could on this case. Unfortunately most other officers were caught up in trying to sort the Lannister corruption scandal. Everyone wanted to find out if the Lannister's children were really born from incest.

Robb was working at his desk looking at the evidence. It just didn't make sense to him. He was trying to think of what might have happened on the way to his usual bar. He had very little to go on and didn't have any evidence that he was even missing so he was stuck in hard place.

One of his two bosses walked up to him and patted him on the back.

"Officer Tarth." He said not taking his eyes from the paper. She poked him in the shoulder and when he did eventually look at her she had a look of discomfort in her eyes.

"Robb… I don't know how to say this but we need to interview you." She said trying to put it as gently as possible.

"What?" Robb was the one who said he was missing in the first place. He groaned but he knew it was just normal police procedure to do these types of things.

"You were the last person to see him alive. It sucks but we need a statement." She honestly didn't want to be doing this because she had a lot more important things to be worrying about at the minute but she needed to take her mind of the stressful environment that her parent was unintentionally putting her though.

In the interview room it was cold and frankly the ceiling was saturated with water. They really needed to get that sorted but the funding was abysmal as it was so they wouldn't be getting a new place any time soon.

They both sat facing each other and Brienne had her pen and notebook in hand ready to write his statement.

"Where were you the night of Theon Greyjoy's disappearance?" She asked, somehow knowing what the answer would be.

"I was at home."

"When was the last time that you saw him?"

"Last night, around midnight. He left the apartment to go out. He took our car." He said dreading knowing that she would soon ask the question that would make him look suspicious.

"Why did he leave?" Brienne asked. She found it unusual for someone like Theon to leave in the middle of the night so she was curious as to what it could be.

"We got into a fight…" He was aware that if he didn't say it now and she found out later it would come back to bite him in the ass. Most people who left things out were automatically guilty he found in this line of work.

"About what?" Brienne instantly got concerned. Robb had never mentioned anything about a fight that went on between them. They seemed like the odd couple which had a decent working relationship so to hear that they had fought was unusual.

"We're going to move house. We were fighting about which one. He got stressed and I accidentally shouted at him. He went for a drink but never came home."

"I see." She scribbled down a note quickly on her pad. Robb tried to read what it said but form where he was sitting it was nearly impossible.

He could hear form the tone she used that she wasn't impressed. "I didn't do anything Brienne." He said nervously thinking that she might assume he did something.

"I know that Robb, your mother raised you better than that." Brienne knew that Robb wouldn't harm a fly so the idea of him murdering his boyfriend was just ridiculous.

Neither really knew what to say next. They looked at each other and in order to break the awkward tension that had built up Robb decided to make small talk.

"How's Jaime doing?" Robb asked trying to make small talk. He could see that she was stressed as she was beginning to click her pen more than normal.

"He's been accused of fucking his sister, Stark. He's not doing well. They're even saying that his nephews are his." She unintentionally said sharply at him. She didn't believe these allegations at all even though everyone else did. Or rather it was more a case of she didn't want to believe it. She had a crush on her partner for the longest time but she could never fine the time or reason to come out and say it.

"That's unfortunate." Robb honestly did think that Jamie had been with Cersei but that was only because his father had been a strong believer of the claim. He wasn't going to disagree with her due to the fact that he was the one being interrogated. In fact after coming public with it he was killed shortly after. It was too suspicious to be a coincidence.

"Well he's going to w-" Brienne was rudely cut off as the door was harshly opened and Robb's half cousin walked in. He was part of a special unit nicknamed the Nights Watch. They did the operations which none of the normal police could do. They were Westeros's finest SWAT team.

"Robb you're okay!" Jon nearly shouted as he ran up to him checking for any injuries. Robb looked for help getting out of the deadly grip bro style hug and she just looked confused at him.

He was nearly crushed Robb patted him and Jon knew he should probably let go of him. "What are you doing Jon?" He asked when he was let go as he was actually allowed some air into his lungs.

"A wrecked car was found by the Red Keep." Jon said finally regaining his composure. This confused the two but they let him keep on talking.

"So?" Robb asked not seeing how it could be relevant to him.

"It was yours. I'm glad you're okay. I thought you were dead." Jon seemed happy but as soon as he said it Robb and Brienne's eyes went wide and they both looked at each other knowing that they had a fresh clue in their missing person's case.

Theon had taken their car to get away after their fight. Theon had been with the car last.

"Let's go!" Robb said getting up with Brienne in tow.

They knew that whatever they were going to find was either going to be really, really, good as it could give them lots of clues or it could be the worst thing that Robb sees in his entire life.

Ramsay was reasonably smart. He knew that if he didn't want any suspicion on him he would need to get any evidence as far away from the bar as possible. Also fire tended to clean away anything. He was kind of hoping thatthey would find it. It would make the hunt more thrilling for him. He wouldn't risk getting caught by the police before but seeing as his captive was engaged to someone high up in the ranks it made it so much more appealing. He had done this process a few times before so it was no problem to get a fire started.

They arrived at the scene and it wasn't what Robb was expecting at all. It was his and Theon's car but it wasn't the normal blue. It was black with ash. If Robb had to guess then he would assume that it was a fast acting accelerant, the person who torched the car didn't want it to be found. Thankfully the number plate was able to survive and a concerned citizen was able to call it in before it was totally destroyed.

As well as that there was no crispy body in the car so that meant Theon was still alive but it made his situation all the more complicated. He couldn't understand what had went down. There most important thing was Theon wasn't there. It either was a good thing or a bad thing, probably the latter thought.

"Why would someone do this to him?" Theon had a couple of enemies but none that he could think of the top of his head.

"Do you have any enemies? Does he?" Brienne asked, she didn't really know him all that well but she knew that Robb was freaking out so that was never a good thing. She looked at the wreck but not for too long, the scent of ash was partially in her lungs so talking was a bit difficult for her.

"No, then again I suppose with me being in the police it could be anyone I put away." He had put away some of the worst criminals that Kings Landing had seen. Killers, rapists and arsonists. Or all 3 in one. He didn't know what he would do if one of them had gotten their hands on Theon.

He looked over the wreckage and tried to find anything that could help him piece together what went down.

Theon was in danger and for Robb that was enough to get him into serious mode.

"Listen up! We need someone to check the cameras in the area, someone check all the bar within the radius and someone get the samples back to the lab so they can be analysed now!" He barked at the investigators who were there. They all saw how pissed he was and instantly did as they were told.

Brienne handed Robb a small leather wallet.

"I found it in the car, is it Theon's? The id was taken out." She said noting that it was pretty much empty.

Robb was begging for it not to be Theon's so they could maybe find a match to who it belonged to but the kraken insignia on it said otherwise.

He nodded and she put it in a small evidence bag. They searched the scene for a bit longer and when they found nothing Robb was relieved and terrified at the same time.

They had no idea what would happen next in this game of life and death.


	5. Chapter 5

Robb had developed a bad habit of biting his nails when he got nervous and currently his nails were practically non-existent. He had no idea where his Theon was and he had now officially been gone for 4 days and no one had seen him. And with them finding the burnt car they hadn't any more time to waste.

They were gathering in one of the rooms of the precinct with all the evidence they had spread out on the table before them. Robb was there along with Brienne and her newest partner, Podrick Payne. And Jon was there as well. He had the feeling that this related to his case but he couldn't know until they got the lab results back from the arson report.

"Haven't we got anything?" He asked the room of friends and other officers.

"Nothing yet but we're working the best we can sir." Podrick said trying to seem useful but only ending up causing Brienne to glare at him.

Robb clenched his fist and tried to remain in control. It wasn't easy for him to be like this. He had to be the one in control since Ned was killed but by god did some days he just want to kick and scream and just let out all of his frustration. Then again Theon was caught up in this situation now because he wasn't able to control his temper.

"Dammit!" He said unclenching his fist and taking a moment to breath

Robb knew that there were too people to blame for this. The person who torched the car and himself. He was thinking of all the situations he would have rather preferred. If they had found Theon by the side of the road beaten but alive, if he had got a minor injured in a car accident even if he had been robbed and left nothing in his wallet. All of those options had one thing in common. He would at least know where Theon was in those situations. Not knowing where he was, it was killing him.

He didn't want to admit it but he had actually looked into get help for his issues. Psychological help. Robb didn't want to think of himself as being sick but he had such trouble control his anger when it came to certain situations. It never went as far as abuse but he knew that this level of anger couldn't be healthy for him.

"What info do we have?" He already knew what information they had. He had gone over it at least a million times but it just didn't make any sense.

Jon was the one who took the paper on the table and made an attempt to put it into a coherent order. "He went out for a drive then his car was found torched by the red Keep. We have nothing else Robb." He tried to tell him. They had a couple people saying that they had seen the car driving but not where it had parked originally.

"He said he was going to a bar. What bars are in the red keep area?" In these types of cases they would normally try and think of every option or everything that could have happened. One of the first places Robb had checked was the crossroad pub, Theon's normal choice of pub but the bartender said he hadn't seen him all night. He hadn't had time to check anywhere else.

"There are 4 major ones and 6 small ones. We've checked them already and no sign of him." Jon said.

"We've?" Robb picked up on the deliberate use of the 'we' pronoun. Jon wasn't going to tell him but it seemed like he would be forced to bring it up now.

"Me, Sam and Ygritte." He said with a slightly dreamy tone in his voice as he thought about his sort of- girlfriend. Robb wasn't in the mood to see anything related to romantic spouses so he shot Jon the dirtiest glare and shut him down.

What Jon was about to tell him was that it was actually a matter of Night Watch. They had their suspicions that it may have been linked to another case that they were working on. A three yearlong case.

"So he didn't make it to the bar. That means he must have been taken somewhere along this road." Robb pointed to a small road which was by the apartment. He had looked along the road as many times as one person could and

Jon couldn't help but connect it to a string of abductions that had happened over the past 3 years. The victim's cars would always be found away from where they were taken. If this was what had happened to Theon then Jon knew that they had to find him now. He didn't want to jump to conclusions yet but if the same burning accelerant was used then the Nights Watch team would take over in an instant. They had been trying to pin him down with no success.

"Who was in the area?" Robb was beginning to bit his nails and Brienne and Jon exchanged a glance. They both knew that under severe stress he would bite his nails. The watched as he bit one off.

"We don't know but it-" Brienne was going to tell him that he shouldn't be doing that as it would ruin his hands but something stopped her.

Brienne was interrupted when the door to the room was burst open rather quickly. The intruder was none other than Jon's most faithful friend and ally Samwell Tarly. He was the one who worked with all the DNA testing and working with the books and all that lab tech.

"The lab results are back. Sorry they took so long. We've been backed up in the lab with other cases." He said looking at the room. He realized he must have interrupted someone who was speaking and nervously laughed and apologized.

"It seems that a fast acting Isopropyl alcohol and Kerosene fusion. It's him Jon." Sam said as he began to read of the lab report. It had a couple of pages to it but he was just reading the relevant information. At the end of his sentence he had said it with such a nervousness that it made all the others nervous as well.

Jon was right. He knew that it was the fucker they had been trying to hunt. This was both good and bad. Good because it meant that they had another shot at hunting the bastard down once and for all but bad because it was someone who was close to him.

"Fuck." He said under his breath. He and Sam both knew what it meant and they exchanged the all-knowing look with each other.

The other three were confused but Robb connected the pieces immediately. He could tell that it must have been someone on the Night's Watch list of wanted.

"Who's what?" Robb asked in confusion, fearing the answer he would get.

Sam didn't want to be the one to tell him so he left the room and left Jon to do it. Jon sighed when his backup left but he supposed he could handle Robb on his own. He knew that when he told him he would probably throw a chair at him or something like that. It was days like this he was grateful of his intense training of both restraining people and both self-defence.

"We've- We've been tracking a serial killer for about 3 years now. He… He kidnaps them from bars by drugging them. We haven't found one alive yet. He's a sick one." The team didn't know how this guy kept on slipping through their fingers but he was good and that was bad news for them.

By the way that Jon looked Robb could tell that the guy they were talking about wasn't just a serial killer and that he probably did a lot worse. "What does he do?" he asked not wanting to hear the answer. Normal serial killers were often just found by the police force but since it required an elite squad he wasn't a normal killer. He would have needed to be 50 times worse.

Jon needed a dictionary. He needed one so he could find the words to tell him in the gentlest way possible what Theon could potentially be going through at this exact moment. He was silent thinking for a moment then decided to do as Sam would do. Say it straight out and get it over with.

"He flays them." Jon said straight forward. He knew there was no time to be messing about with this guy having Robb's fiancé. Robb had never heard of the term before so Jon dreaded going into the details of it. If the whole 'Theon was in the clutches of a killer' thing didn't set him off, then this would almost certainly.

"Flays?" Robb had heard of people being flayed but he hadn't bothered to learn what it actually was. He assumed it was some kind of torture technique.

"He cuts their skin off. Medieval style." Out of all the cases he had seen in the past by for the most gruesome corpses he had seen was the bodies from the _'Mr X case'._ It sickened him because each corpse was significantly worst then the last. He remembered the most recent one from about 6 months ago was. He would wake up in a cold sweat just remembering what he had done to it. Especially the fingers. God how it made Jon cringe.

He was right to begin panicking. The fact that his Theon was in the grasp of a psychopathic killer who tortured people medieval style was stopping his mind from functioning. For all of this to happen all in the short span of four days was overwhelming him. Also there was the fact that he had been up for at least 30 hours without any sleep and minimal food.

He took a seat and tried to regain some form of reasonable thinking.

"How long does he keep them alive?" He asked. He needed to know how much time they had before they were sure that Theon would be dead.

"We don't know but if we had to guess about 2 weeks before he kills them." It wasn't conclusive evidence though. They had each found the bodies at different time and each at different stages of decomposition.

"He's been gone for 4 days. We have 10 days to find him." Robb did the math. Most prisoners wouldn't last more than a week in most kidnapping cases but then again it was Theon who was take, an iron born as tough as nails.

Robb was now determine. Determined to find out everything there was to find out about the psychopath and figure out how he worked. If he knew that they there would be an increased chance he would find Theon.

"Is there any correlation in the bars he visits?" Robb knew that there had to be some kind of pattern. Some kind of strategy that the killed had for picking his victims. The one that that made him worry was the use of the words Psychopath. Psychopaths were harder to catch as they often did things in way which made them 10 times harder to catch. Jon didn't have the file with him at the moment but he was able to recall the information from his memory.

"He tends to go for the crappy type of bars. There are several that have been used before but he never goes to the same one twice." Robb was withholding all of his pent up rage. He was going to find this bastard and put an end to him. It was like he was doing everything in his power just too specially piss him off. Couldn't he have left even the tiniest piece of evidence?

It was at this moment that Robb realised he didn't even know what to call the psychopath he was going to hunt down. He needed his name so he could picture what it would be like when he shot him in the face for touching his beloved. "What do you call him?"

This one took all of them by surprise as they relied that Jon hadn't actually told them the name yet. "He's called X because he also leaves another mark on his victims. An X mark made by branding." That was about the only thing that linked all of the cases. Normally on the stomach or hip they would have a seared X mark. Sam had gone through ever book to see what it could have been but he came up dry.

Brienne and Podrick looked down at the two and the tension was filling the room quickly. Podrick excused himself saying that he was going to go get them all some tea and biscuits. Brienne let him go but she stayed. She was much stronger then Jon was and could restrain Robb if she needed to.

"I am going to find X and I am going to kill him." Robb said in a suddenly calm voice. He had assembled a plan in his head. He would read through all the evidence that they had until he could find his fiancé. It wasn't a perfect plan but they had to do something. Robb was about to barge off and get the files he had on Mr X but Jon interrupted him.

"If Theon is alive he won't be the same. The torture he inflicts onto others, he'll be lucky if he doesn't need intensive therapy." He said. He had seen significantly lesser damage cases where a victim had lived but was so traumatized that they refused to leave their house for the first year of being rescued. He knew Theon as tough as most iron born were but it was truly a matter of how much he could take before being broken.

"We'll find him before that happens."

This was a game of chess and it was just a matter of trying to figure out what the others next move would be.

It had been four days and Theon already was like a walking talking corpse. Ramsay had been generous enough to give him a small helping of bread and water but not before playing another round of screamer. Theon had used the shredded remains of his shirt to act as makeshift bandages as Ramsay was providing no medical treatment but he found it hard to reach the cuts he had made on his back.

Ramsay had also been kind enough to let him down off the X for half an hour a day to stretch his legs. Ramsay didn't want to deal with him not being able to walk properly from being tied up for so long. That was about the height of his mercy but it wasn't like Theon could complain.

Theon had searched the room at least twenty times over for a way to get out but the only thing he was able to find was the human remains, some bags of dog food and dead mouse carcasses. Nothing that could help him. He had learned the times at which Ramsay would come down at so he knew where to be when the doors at the top of the steps opened.

He didn't have any real sense of time so he just assumed when it would be and he was often right about it. He guessed it was about 1 when Ramsay went down to give him 'Lunch' which was always wither something inedible or not enough to consume physically.

What he wasn't aware of was that Ramsay was actually giving him food at the wrong time of day to mess him up. He gave him permission to sleep at about 7am so that he could go and do things like normal people and also get more idea and toys that he could share with his new prisoner.

He heard the door at the top of the stairs opening and he waited patiently, not trying to act suspicious. He thought that he had placed cameras in the room and could see what he was doing anyway but if that was the case he was curious as to why he had done nothing to stop him yet.

Ramsay made his way down, whistling a merry tune while doing so. Why was he merry? He had grown bored of the screamer game and was going to introduce him to another one of his fun activities. The activity in mind was called branding.

"Oh Theon good to see you're awake." He said happily going up to him and looking him up and down. He was getting awfully skinny. All the other had gotten pretty skinny as well but this time he wouldn't let his new pet die of starvation.

"You didn't give me permission to fall asleep." Ramsay had left last night without saying he could sleep and Theon knew the repercussions of not following his orders. He hadn't done anything aside from the odd torture which left Theon wondering what else he could have in store for him.

"Good boy. I have something special I want to do today." Theon growled at the cute pet name he had been assigned by the psycho path but there was physically nothing that he could do about it.

Theon was shaking where he stood. This was the first time Ramsay had wanted to do something besides the knife game and form the way he was smiling he looked way to happy about the next game. He looked at the bag that he had carried down with him and wondered what he could possibly have in it.

"You need to be on the cross for this one." Ramsay said poking through a bag for various objects. He had tried to run the first time Ramsay had let him out of the chains and it resulted in his back getting whipped like he was in some kind of S&M film. He went to the cross and waited for Ramsay to come and time him up. He felt disgusted with himself for letting him do this but he had no other choice.

He pulled out lots of minor things like a couple of cloths, bandages, some kind of medical liquid and finally a long back rod which had an X on the end of it. If he had to make an assumption he would have guessed that it was some kind of fire poker.

Ramsay walked the one of the walls in the room and moved a small hidden panel, which in turn revealed a hatch and opened up what seemed to be a huge hole in the wall. Theon hoped that it was a window but upon looked closer he came to the conclusion it was a fire place.

It hit him like a truck. The sicko was going to brand him, mark him like he was some kind of property. It had taken no time at all for Ramsay to get the fire started, he was good with stuff like that.

"Do you know what is going right to happen next?" He asked him rhetorically. He could see the fear that was instilled within him. The more Ramsay observed Theon the more he noticed the difference in his fear. Whenever he threatened him with the knife he got a glazed over look in his eyes. Ramsay could tell that it was what he feared the most.

With the brand however it was a fear of the Unknown. His breaths were taking longer to come out which Ramsay knew that it meant he was holding his breath. He was enjoying this fear so much that he felt a strange sensation in his pants. He had never felt this way when torturing anyone else but something about him was special. He had never violated anyone he had captured sexually but with the way things were going he might be experimenting a little.

While waiting for the X to get to its red hot state he decided he wanted to make small talk to pass the time. Try and get Theon to talk to him. Sure he already knew everything about him from the internet and from far away but he knew little of his actually person.

"So…How do you like it here?" He asked nonchalantly. He saw Theon's face muddled with confusion but then with an angered but still very fearful voice he replied to the comment.

"What do you think I think about this bloody prison?" He needed freedom, he needed the feeling of the wet see breeze on his face and most of all he needed his Rob to be there with him.

It wasn't the first time he had been like this. Trapped in a small space and tied up. There had been a time in his childhood when his dad was having a binge drinking session after all of Theon's brothers had died in a boating accident when he was fed up with him. He tied his wrists together, making sure that the rope was digging into his flesh and shoved him harshly into a cupboard. Theon could still remember the feeling of his head banging against the hard wood.

He vowed to himself that he would never be trapped in any type of prison ever again. He had just broken his one vow. No, Ramsay had broken his one vow.

Ramsay saw the awkwardness but elected to ignore it for the time being. "Right, not at that stage yet but I'm sure that I'll make you like it yet." Once he had broken Theon a bit more he would feel right at home. He would have to feel at home. It wasn't like he was going to let him go anywhere else alive.

Ramsay, while waiting on the device of torture device to be done forgot about something else he have to check. He went up to Theon and took of his clothes, his resisting the whole time of course. He may have just seemed like a pervert checking out his naked body but aside from doing that also he was actually checking for where would be the best place to put the X mark. He would often do it on the hips but he didn't quite know with Theon. He thought that maybe he could do it on his arm as he could look at it all the time.

Ramsay took great pride in his work and it always had to be perfect. He then saw it. The perfect spot for him to mark Theon. There was a small area of perfectly clear skin which was just the perfect size of his X. It was about 5 cm down form the top of his shoulder blade. Normally he wouldn't be this precise and would normally have the mind-set of _'Fuck it there's a good spot.'_ And just go for it.

Theon felt Ramsay touching random parts of his body and he lost it. He had remained calm and tried to do follow Robb's advice on a kidnapping situation but it was too much for him to even begin to handle properly. "I'm never going to give into you. I'm a bloody Greyjoy and what is dead may never die." Those words made him feel stronger when he was weak.

Ramsay stopped looking at his arm and looked at him confused. "Isn't that a religious quote? I didn't think you as a religious type. Then again I'm sure I can convert you." Ramsay wasn't really into the whole 'gods' thing so he hadn't bothered to check if Theon had any specific religion or not.

There were a lot of gods that people liked to believe in. The Starks were believers of the old gods but they were always respectful of Theon believing in only the drowned god.

"To what?" Theon didn't even want to begin thinking about what possible religion that he could be a part of.

"You need to learn that there is no God. Only me. Your master." His therapist had told him several time that he had a borderline god complex and that he was a total sociopathic megalomaniac. Ramsay didn't think of it like that back then and ended up stabbing the good doctor in the back while she had her back turned. He could now she that she may have had a point, only difference was that he saw it as a good thing that should be left alone while she was trying to change him. He wasn't going to be changed so easily.

"Master?" Theon asked confused by the title. He was beginning to see how it was working. Ramsay was treating him like a dog. Theon made the assumption that was why the dog food bags were there and Ramsay must have had some kind of fixation on this type of thing. Ramsay saw him looking at the dirty bags of old _'direwolf brand kibble'_ and remembered that he must introduce his new pet to his actually pets soon.

"See you're already calling me by my proper title"

Thankfully to save himself from anymore awkward talking the iron was just about ready to be used. He took it out and spat on it just to be sure. When his saliva sizzled in an instant he knew it was time to mark him. Theon's metaphorical sweat was now becoming physicalized as both the reality of the situation was hitting him and the heat was so intense it would causing him to become drenched in sweat.

"This is so everyone can see that you are mine and mine alone." He said lining it up with the spot he had mentally mapped out. Theon was whimpering and begging for this not to happen. He could deal with the knife and begin cut but he didn't do well with heat.

The sound was the worst part. It made a wet sizzling noise, like when you put a hot tray in a wet sink. There was the screaming also, though to Ramsay it sounded like an orchestral piece made only for him.

Theon could feel the burning hot iron searing his flesh like he was a steak on a grill. He never thought that he would miss being cut with a knife. That was until he Ramsay proved him wrong. He had no idea it would get so much worse.

Ramsay wished he would have had a recorder at that very moment. He did have a tape recorder but he was saving it for later. He had a little errand he had to run with it. An errand that involved Robb Stark.

Two things were going through Theon's mind at this very moment. One was the catastrophic amount of pain he was in. The other was of Robb bursting down the door right now and taking him to the nearest hospital. He needed to be saved. The pain got to such a point that he yelled for the only thing he could think off.

"Robb, please it burns."

He had said those exact word about 5 years ago when there had been a small fire in his dormitory room and he had gotten a minor burn on his hand. Robb had been at the hospital in an instant and was smothering him with love and kisses to make him feel better.

"He's not going to come." Ramsay told him. There was no way he would be caught, he had been doing this for years now and if they hadn't caught him at this stage then they never would. And besides with his father working so closely with the police and city hall if they were onto him he would get a heads up and could get rid of anything that incriminated him.

"He will." Theon said with pride. He wasn't going to be like the people Robb told him about. He wouldn't end up a murdered kidnapping victim because Robb was going to catch this maniac and put him away forever. Ramsay found it adorable how he still had so much spirit he could break, even after they had played the first game.

This was exactly the situation that Ramsay had been hoping for. Theon still had the foolish hope that Robb was going to come and save him. He was going to enjoy shattering that hope like a mirror and then stick the shards into his eyes. And then when there was nothing left of his hope and he was thoroughly broken that was when he would mould him into the perfect servant.

He would mould him into the perfect Reek.

He stepped back for a moment to look back and admire his work. "Well I think that it's rather successful. It looks good on you." He rubbed the mark and got a quiet hiss from the Greyjoy.

"I hate you!" The rage he had been holding back clear in his voice. He couldn't even think of anything better to say.

He removed the branding iron along with the charred skin around it. If Ramsay had to say it was probably one of the cleanest brandings he had done. He quickly got the liquid medication he had brought down and slathered it on, getting a rather loud scream from his prisoner once again. The last thing he wanted was for Theon to get an infection. He wasn't an expert in medicine so if they got to a certain point of sickness they would be screwed.

"You've been though a lot. I give you permission to sleep. I will be back in the morning." He said packing up all the objects he had originally brought and quickly making his way back up the steps. He smirked but didn't let Theon see. He knew that the pain would rob him of any sleep he would get. Then again there was always the possibility that he could simply pass out form the pain.


	6. Chapter 6

One week. 3 days. 26 minutes. 2 seconds.

That is how much time had passed since Theon was went to the bar and as the time was counting down Robb get more driven to find him.

They had hosted a special report on the news where they finally made news of the killer public. Ramsay had actually happened to be watching it as it was on. He laughed at how much the description of the killer was wrong.

Robb had been at the front of the investigation. He wasn't in the Night's Watch team but seeing as the victim was of close relation to both Jon and him they decided to let him join just for this case. They had set up a desk in the main area as it had the most space and they could try to set up a clear picture of what happened better.

This sounded easy but the investigation was constantly being interrupted by random people but this time it was the lady of house Stark that made the interruption this time. She hadn't seen much of him and if he was anything like Ned he knew that he would probably look like a twig by now.

She wasn't wrong but he was more pale then anything.

Cat had walked into the station with a container of blue Tupperware in her hand. She looked around until she saw Robb by Brienne's desk looking at a huge pile of paper work. Catelyn walked up to them and made herself know.

"Robb. Brienne." She said giving a little curtsy nod.

"Mrs Stark." Brienne said respectfully. She would call Catelyn by her proper name outside the line of duty but while working it was always the full title. Even when she didn't accept them as being above her. One example being 'Yes, Mr Joffery Baratheon.'

Cat took the pile of papers from his hand quickly and before he could grab then back she shoved the food container into his hand. The determined gleam in her eyes let him know that h was going to eat it and he was going to like it. He opened up and the smell of her home cooked pasta with tomato sauce.

He nodded thanks but put it down. He wasn't that hungry. He guessed the feeling of worry had replaced his appetite. She glared down at the box and folded her arms. She could tell he was going to going to be resilient.

She needed to change the conversation. She was under stress too. "Robb what should I do about the people who keep on calling about the wedding?" She asked showing him her messages on her phone. They were all from the people involved in the planning asking what should happen now that Theon was missing.

The wedding had completely left Robb's head. He hadn't thought about anything else. He looked at the amount of messages that had been sent to Cat and he began to eat at the homemade pasta she had brought him. It was his way of apologizing and she gratefully accepted it.

"I don't care about the wedding anymore. I don't want to think about him and the torture he is going through at the hands of that psychopath." He hadn't told anyone but he had taken a look through the previous records of what the Night's Watch had on him and he was sickened by what he saw.

"Theon's cause so much trouble and he hasn't even been here to cause it." She tried to lighten the mood but it seemed to hit him hard.

"What would dad think of me now?" The question had been so random and out of the blue Catelyn didn't know how to respond at first. She pulled his hands away from his face and made him look her in her blue eyes.

"He would think that you are trying your hardest. It's for the best of you try to forget him now. You have more important things to worry about." She reassured him. As much as she did want to say that he should do what Ned would have done she couldn't now. There were nights when he would work himself into the ground trying to capture a culprit and she didn't want to see that same fate befall her son.

It took Robb a moment before he could move away from her pleading eyes. "After the fight I just don't know what to feel anymore. I know it was his fault but I can't stop blaming myself."

"Blaming yourself isn't going to get him back." She told him blatantly. She brought him into a hug one more time but this time she noticed something unusual. She noticed a dark haired man who had been staring at them for the whole of their conversation. She kept on staring at him and he kept on staring at her. She didn't like the look of him and decided to call him out on it.

"If you want our attention just ask. It is rude to eavesdrop." She said pointing to the man. He acted surprised.

"It is you Mrs Stark, I didn't mean to stare I was just trying to put the name with the face."

Catelyn was confused for a moment. "I'm sorry but who are you?" She hated to seem rude but she wasn't going to act civil to anyone she didn't have to.

"Sorry, my name is Domeric Snow. Roose Bolton's son. I saw you working with him sometimes."

"Roose? I never realised he had a son. Well it's good to meet you Domeric." She extended her hand and he shook it like a true gentleman. He acted as friendly as he could. He wasn't exactly a good sociable person.

He knew that this was the textbook definition of a ballsy move. To go and speak face to face with the family and friends of the guy you have hidden in your basement starving and bound to a big X by iron chains was fucking insane. He loved the thrill of it though.

"I just needed to leave something in." Ramsay said fumbling around his pockets.

"What is it?"

"I found a pair of car keys outside the station. I thought I'd hand them into the reception." Ramsay handed them too her assuming that she too was part of the police force. He knew who she was but he didn't want to seem suspicious.

She looked at the keys and notice the signature Squid emblem. "Those are…Theon's keys… Robb!" She yelled back, getting both Robb and Brienne's attention.

"What is it?" Brienne could see that her good friend was concerned. Cat and she had developed a good bond after they had worked together in one of Robb's police training schemes and they often went out for coffee together. They enjoyed their times out. She had even been allowed to be there when they interrogated Jamie about Ned's death.

"Did you find Theon's car keys at the scene of the crime?" Catelyn asked still holding the keys in her hand. Thankfully she had been wearing her signature gloves so they wouldn't have her fingerprints on it, though they would defiantly have Ramsay's fingerprints on it but that was to be expected since he handed them in.

"No they were taken by Mr X. Why?" Robb picked up the report just to check that they hadn't found it and he confirmed that the keys hadn't been with the other evidence. He knew he couldn't have dropped them because Theon hadn't been to the station for at least a couple of months.

"This man found them outside the police station." She said holding it up whole gesturing towards the man they knew as 'Domeric'

Robb put on a latex glove and too the key in his hand. He only looked at it for a second but he knew it was Theon's.

"Mr X was here? That cocky son of a bitch." Brienne said. She had heard stories of killers going to police stations before but she thought it was a myth. Her quiet outburst had caught the attention of a couple of surrounding officers and they too tried to see what was going on.

"Where exactly did you find them?" Brienne asked seeing as Robb was still mesmerise by the keys.

"Just by the bin." Ramsay said point to the doors indicating that he had _'Found them'_ outside.

The other members of the Night's Watch who had been there had heard what was going on and Ygritte and Tormund had rushed out with a forensics kit and tape to seclude off the area. "Thank you. We mightn't have found it if you didn't bring it to us." Brienne said giving Ramsay a pat on the back. He had done them a great service in the case. Now they would really be getting somewhere if they could find a DNA sample.

"I'm happy to help." He said. It was nearly impossible for him to hold back his laughter but he had too. If he got caught he wouldn't get home to his little pet. He didn't want Theon to starve to death just yet.

"Check the camera." Jon said as he went with the two ex-wilding gang members.

As Brienne looked at the screen she realised that they wouldn't find what they needed. "Dammit that's another area that doesn't have a camera." She said looking at the building that was falling apart. She had originally wanted to transfer but then something kept her there. Someone.

"Another?" Robb asked looking around just to make sure. He knew that the funding for the police was bad but he didn't think that they couldn't afford basic security.

"The Lannister's don't always pay their debts." She said remembering the conversation she had had with Jamie about how the funding should be divided. Tyrion did want to give more to the police force but his father Tywin was very solid about putting the funding into the iron bank. She wanted to hate Tywin but seeing as how Jamie was her partner she couldn't bring herself to do it.

As the looked around the small trinket they felt something sticky on the back of it. When Robb pulled his hand back he saw a small red patch on his fingers. He wanted to find it was some kind of street gunk nut when he smelt it he had to get it away for fear of him throwing up due to the smell of it.

"It's blood, dried blood." Brienne had been in the force long enough to know dried blood when she saw it. If she had to guess she would say the blood was at least a couple of hours old. If that was the case warm blood still ran through Theon Greyjoy's veins. He was still alive, somewhere.

Robb was past being shocked at this point. He already knew that he was being tortured so it didn't have any impact. The only thing that it did was fuel his determination to find him. His pessimistic mind was telling him to think about what part of the body the blood had come out from.

"Check all the cameras and see if anyone didn't show their face." Robb knew that if they would at least have to be on one camera. He needed this new piece of evidence. This was the break that they needed.

"If they knew that it didn't have a camera there then they would have known where the other cameras were." This X person was cleverer than they originally thought. He knew the police and that put them at a major disadvantage. They were all left with one resounding question.

"Where is Mr X?"

It had been a couple of hours since Ramsay's little police time escapade but he had gotten what he needed from the police station.

He opened the top of the basement steps and walked down to a very worried looking Theon. He took a moment to stand there and look at his work. He was getting skinny but that was how he liked his victims. No energy to escape.

"I'm excited. Do you know why?"

"Why?" He had guessed that until someone was able to find him he would play along and try to avoid further injury.

"Because it's another challenge."

"Here's how to play. I have several true facts about you and I want you to tell me the truth. If you don't admit it then I get to use this."

It was a leather belt but it had been modified to that it had small razor blades attached to it along with it a couple of spiked cones at the tips to add further injury. Theon had been exposed too much cruelty yet but he knew that this one would be the worst yet.

"Ready?" He said circling around him like a vulture closing in on its prey, ready to tear it apart.

"First round. Your old name was Theon Greyjoy."

"True." He said bit in his lip hoping that it wouldn't be some kind of twisted question which he would get wrong no matter what he said. Ramsay smiled and Theon felt another chill go down his spine. He also took note of how Ramsay said old name. He wouldn't let him take his goddamn name from him. He was a Greyjoy and not amount of torture could ever change that.

"Correct. Next question, your fiancé is Robb Stark." He said that part with a smile. Theon nodded and tried his best not to think about where this was going.

"True."

"You got into a fight with him."

Regret. He could feel nothing else. If he hadn't have been so self-centred and thinking about himself then maybe he'd be in Robb's arms. It was after this thought that it struck him. This was his punishment for getting angry with Robb.

This was the Drowned God hurting him.

His back was to Ramsay which he was sort of glad of. He didn't think he could look at the psycho in the face again. Then again the way he was circling him meant he would have to look at him at one point or another.

He was expecting to feel the pain of the razor blades colliding with his back but when no such things came he let out a small nervous laugh. He had survived this round much to the dismay of Ramsay.

He didn't want Ramsay too do anything beyond the torture. He couldn't handle anything sexual. He was with Robb and he was going to be loyal. That was a trait that was common in the Starks and was valued a lot. Cat never thought of Theon as the loyal type but he had always tried his best to prove him wrong.

"True." Ramsay said lowering his weapon.

"Does he still love you?" He asked biting his tongue in an effort to hide his anticipation knowing that he would get it wrong. He was ready to see Theon bleed again. He was ready for it.

"Yes…" Theon said with a slight confidence but his guard higher hen even.

"Lies." His smile was filled with sadistic pleasure as he got the first opportunity to use his device on him. He repeated the process over and over until his back looked like a field in planting season. Deep marks that would probably be there for at least a couple of months.

If Theon's throat wasn't as dry as a desert he would have been screaming at the ungodly amount of pain he was it. He could feel the blood beginning to run down his back.

"I've been spying on him. He said it himself:" he smirked and Theon didn't know his to feel. He was going to hear his Fiancées voice for the first time in almost a week

He played the tape which he had modified so slightly.

" _I don't care about the wedding anymore. I don't want to think about him."_ Theon was looking straight at the recorder. He wanted to believe that it was one of Ramsay's tricks. It had to be there was no way Robb would say something like that. "No, he wouldn't say that."

Ramsay pushed another button and another audio clip played.

" _After the fight I just don't know what to feel anymore. I know it was his fault."_

That was the one which struck a nerve. Theon was trying his hardest to block out the poisonous lies that his new master was trying to feed him. He was trying to think of ways that Ramsay could have made it up but it was one hundred percent Robb's voice and there was no editing involved. It had come directly from Robb's lips.

"Oh but he did. And his mother agrees." Ramsay said pushing another button and starting his next step in stripping away Theon and bringing in his brand new Reek.

' _It's for the best of you try to forget him now. You have more important things to worry about. Theon's caused so much trouble hasn't he?"_

Ramsey had no idea it would work as well as it did but Theon seemed utterly crushed.

Theon wanted to ignore it. He just wanted to pretend that what he heard wasn't true but it was indeed his Robb's voice on the speaker phone. How could he say that? Sure they had bad fights but never to a point where he would say he would detest him. Had he really cared that much about the house? He was trying to think of what situations he could be saying this under but he was having trouble coming up with a plausible reason but he was coming up empty.

"You know what though. I love you." Ramsay grabbed him by the chin and kissed him on the lips, hearing a whimper from him as he tried to pull away. Ramsay was undoing the binds that kept him attached to the cross.

Ramsay had done a variety of torture methods but this was the first time he had allowed himself to indulge in the art of sexual torture. He had read a lot about it and after all it was in his blood. His father had sexually assaulted his mother and he was just the by-product of the union.

"I have money. I can pay you. Or on second thoughts if you don't do this I will do anything else." He tried to scream at him. He could stand the knife play, hell even the hot iron but he didn't want anyone else fucking him. That was a job for Robb and Robb alone.

"You're already paying me. Just not with currency. And I think that you're going to do what I say no matter what." Ramsay got up close and personal to him, he leaned his head in close seemed to be smelling him. Theon moved back as much as his weakened body would allow.

He tried to squirm but the lack of energy from food was causing him pain, he could still use his nails to defend himself.

A series of hurried 'pleases' and 'don'ts made their way out of Theon's mouth as Ramsay began to toss him about like a slab of meat.

This was when Theon made the crucial mistake of scratching him on the cheek. Theon had been thrashing about so much he didn't mean to do it but it just happened. Ramsay paused for a moment, still holding him down with one hand but using his other to wipe his cheek of the blood. He looked at him for a moment and while Theon assumed he would laugh it off his captor showed no sign of laughing. In fact he looked the exact opposite of it.

"You are going to regret that." Ramsay was always in control and when someone tried to take it away from him he got angry.

He slammed down Theon's head to disorient him and generally make the process a lot easier.

"No one else cares about you but me."

"You have no use for these nails. I think I'll remove them one by one."

"No…Please…." Theon hid his hands away from Ramsay's gaze. Just looking at him caused his to feel the pain that he would inflict onto his hand.

"Well what do you want? It's either sex or torture. Well I suppose to you it's all the same. Either option will make you scream." He said glancing over to the whip. Theon took the hint and stopped all voluntary moving. He was only shaking now.

Theon began to cry again and Ramsay just took a moment to appreciate how cute his sob was. He was like a puppy who had been kicked to the brink of death. He knew all too well what that sounded like.

"Since it's your first time I won't have sex with you, but you'd better give me the best dammed blowjob of my life. Because your life depends on it, both figuratively and literally."

Theon wanted to resist so badly. He wanted to scratch him again but he couldn't afford to be tortured anymore then he already had been. Another thing he knew was that he had to bide his time until- He then remembered the tape that Ramsay had so kindly played for him.

"Wait hang on, I want to play some music while you do it." Theon assumed he would have taken out his phone to play something but instead all he did was take out the recorder device again.

He played the edited tape of Robb and Catelyn on repeat. Over and over and over. He had to listen to how his soon to be finance had been relieved of the burden he had caused. Theon tried to reach for it to turn it off when Ramsay brought Theon down to his knees and made sure he stayed there.

When Theon tried to move away again he was given a sharp smack to the face, letting him know what he was to do. As Ramsay began to undo his trousers Theon let himself cry once more. He was under the impression that he could handle the emotional impact of the torture but not this.

It wasn't long before Theon was forced to take Ramsay into his mouth. It was the most disgusting and degrading thing he had ever done in his life and he had worked with cleaning ships his whole life. He hadn't liked when he gave Robb oral but he had been understand when he told him. That was the difference between Robb and him. Robb asked him for consent and understood boundaries. Ramsay understood none of this.

He repeated the circling motion with his tongue hoping it would make the taste less revolting but it only seemed to make it worse. He tried to focus his other sense but that only made things worse. He could hear his Robb saying how much he hated him, he couldn't look away from him, he was forcibly tasting him and he could hear the moaning noises he was making along with his own pathetic whimpering. All he knew at that moment in time was Ramsay.

As he worked harder he pushed another button which caused Theon to cry even harder. He had left the part where Robb had said it was _'All his fault'_

Ramsay had been going slowly up until this pointed and decided that he needed to go the full way with him. If he wanted Theon to be his he had to mark him as his own. He had learned that from the best.

Like father like son he supposed.

Ramsay was a man of his word. He interlocked his fingers in Theon's filthy hair and made him take all of it. Theon's first initial response was to try and bite down and possibly get him to bleed to death but he feared that not even death would stop Ramsay.

He didn't gag when Ramsay came in his mouth. He didn't gag but he didn't swallow either. He wasn't going to take anything he gave him. He found it amazing how he didn't choke despite Ramsay forcing his member almost all the way in.

"I have this one friend Myranda and she doesn't suck me dry as good as you do. Maybe I should get rid of her and keep you forever." When Ramsay released Theon from his grasp he turned into his stomach and threw up. First there was the white stick substance but then it was what little food Ramsay had given him. All that came out of Theon was a small amount of unrecognisable bread and a small piece of uncooked steak he had been given. He didn't want to eat it but he had been desperate.

"You didn't swallow? Of well I'll get you to learn yet. You need a bath."

Theon licked his lips hoping that he would get moisture but the saltiness was still there. The Greyjoy would have thrown up but there was nothing left in his stomach so he was dry heaving onto the floor, spitting a little stomach acid.

The last time he had cried this hard was when he had been taken away from Yara when he was younger. Both time made him cry because something had been taken from him. The first time it had been his family but this time it had been his promise to only be sexual with Robb. He knew that it was a situation out of his control but he still felt like in some way, if he had done something differently then maybe he'd be out of this living hell.

Then again there was always one other way he could get out of here. He waited until Ramsay was totally silent before he spoke.

"Kill me…"

Theon had gotten to the point where he didn't want to live. It had felt like an eternity since Ramsay had taken him but in actually he guessed it would have been about a week. If Robb hadn't found him by now he was a dead man. The tape was still on repeat and it reminded him how Robb wasn't looking for him. He was painfully aware that Ramsay was going to kill him in the end so he just begged it would be over now. He couldn't go through it again. He couldn't.

Ramsay dropped the cloth he was using to clean himself up. "What? You want me to kill you?" He was clearly offended by the statement.

Theon didn't know what he had done but he had said something Ramsay didn't like as he got the dangerous look in his eyes. Without any single warning he picked up Theon and slammed him against the X.

"You are mine and I will kill you when I want you dead." He said going up close to his face and making a biting motion at his neck. Theon's neck was getting sore from the amount of times he had to pull his neck away from Ramsay.

Theon was his toy and he was his to control. He told him when to eat. When to sleep. When to please him. The first Reek he had promised he would be with him forever and he had broken that promise. He wasn't going to let this Reek be any different.

Ramsay ran a hand down through Theon's hair. It had gotten very thin and he could feel how it was very greasy. He hadn't washed for a week after all. He was debating giving him a haircut but the he thought of how much fun he could have if he kept it and was able to pull on it hard when they got round to having sex. And he knew he would get round to that very soon.

Maybe he should cut of a lock and send it to Robb just to let him know how things were going between the two of them. He couldn't wait to see his reaction. He might leave it at the police station so he could get into the CCTV footage and watch his face as he realised that Theon was his now.

With Theon lying a shaking crying mess on the floor he decided to leave him but not before whispering one last thing into his ear.

" _What game should I play next?"_


	7. Chapter 7

I apologise this is taking forever to get done. I am thankful to Bleu-au for the gracious review (Merci mon ami). Things only get worse for poor little Theon from here on out.

* * *

Time was an interesting concept. Theon had only been there for a week and bit but he felt like it had been a whole year. The only thing he really had to tell the time was by how quickly his wounds were healing. If the small ones had closed over then he knew it had been another day.

His time here was showing. His hair was thinner and if seen in the right light it could be seen turning a lighter shade than it had been when he first came here. He could feel hi ribs peeking out from his skin. He was living of the scraps that Ramsay had given him but it wasn't enough. Thankfully there was a small leak and he was able to get rainwater from it.

He was on the cross at the moment and he was trying to think of how he could pass the time when he heard someone coming. He was trying to mentally prepare himself for whatever game Ramsay would introduce him to this time. Theon had tried to think of the worst that Ramsay could do so he could be prepared for it but he never wanted to begin thinking like him.

Theon was scared that it was Ramsay at the top of the steps however somethings was off about the footsteps. They were heavier than Ramsay's for sure. He was praying that it was a police officer who had entered the house and were here to recuse him. That they could take him away from this nightmare. His dreams were shattered when he saw that he was wearing a fancy suit and shirt, too fancy to be a police officer. Theon didn't want to think that he an associate of Ramsay but then he thought who else would have access to this hellhole basement.

He was met with two dark eyes, the same as Ramsay's staring back at him but his face was very different. He was defiantly an older gentleman due to the slight balding of the hair at the top. He clearly kept himself well-groomed as he had a clean shave and he smelt of expensive cologne the Theon could smell from where he had been chained up.

The man looked at him with confusion them what seemed to be boredom, almost like a 'For the love of gods' type of look. Theon wanted to plead for help but he waited for him to speak first, that way he would be able to get a good impression of who he was. Since he wasn't phased by him being tied to a wooden X by chains he assumed he was used to seeing this type of thing.

"So this is the person Ramsay has got this time." He said as he looked over him. He was used to his son brining people home. He recognised him instantly. He was the son of Balon Greyjoy, the man who ran the docks and sold ships. He remembered purchasing a boat of him one time before, it had been sufficient for what he needed to do.

"Who…" It was all he could muster at the moment.

"Roose Bolton. Ramsay's father." He said introducing himself. He always did it with Ramsay's victims at one point or another. Roose was always curious to see what kind of company his son liked to keep locked away.

He sneered disapproving at Ramsay's newest toy. He was concerned about how quickly he had gotten another person in his basement but he assumed it must have been a spur of the moment thing. He was always like that ever since he was a small child.

He was looking for an old stack of city hall papers he kept in Ramsay's house as his basement was overflowing with papers as well. Due to the Lannister scandal becoming public he was drowned in paper work and trying to get it sorted. He was allied with them and if they went down so did he.

He was looking about when Theon tried to talk but it only came out a small noise of distress. Roose was acquainted with the noise all too well. It was giving him quite the nostalgic feeling.

"I remember the first one. Her name was Jeyne." He had fond memories of her. She was a sweet little thing but she was also the most problematic of all of the people Ramsay had kept in his basement. True, Ramsay hadn't done much to her but she had exposed all of the cracks in Ramsay's little operation. She had come so close to escaping and getting him arrested but a swift blow to the head ended her life.

He hadn't meant to do it. It just happened. Ramsay had been inconsolable for a whole day but once he got over the initial shock of losing his new toy he was back to his normal self but smarter as he knew how to play with his next toy. How to play the game in the future.

He remembered the small rhyme he had come up with when they buried her in the woods. 'Jeyne, Jeyne, it rhymes with pain.' It was annoying to him but it seemed to amuse his bastard son. That was the few time he had helped Ramsay with this type of thing. He only enjoyed helping him when it was to do with finding out how much information the police had on him.

"Please….Mr Bolton. Let me go…please…" He could see through a bruised eye that Roose didn't have the same psychotic glare that Ramsay had. He knew he had to try everything to escape and emotional manipulation was something he might have tried.

"I spill my heart out about Jeyne and that's all you have to say? Pitiful." He said, He could see that Ramsay hadn't yet broken this toy but if he had been here for over a week and still had hope then he was going to be a challenge and if he knew his son he knew he was going to be very happy over the next week. Or however long it took for him to break.

Theon could now begin to see the family resemblance personality wise. Roose gave off a colder aura, like he didn't care about him or his son.

Theon got chills at the sound of his voice. It was a lot deeper then Ramsay's was but it had an undertone of something else. Ramsay would scream at you to get a fear reaction but Roose could probably say one word and he would get the same result.

Powerful. That was the only true word that could describe him.

Roose began to look around for the papers he needed while Theon tried to think of the best way to take action. Theon knew he had to play it smart. He had to use this golden opportunity to his advantage. If he didn't he wouldn't get another chance.

"What about Ramsay's mother?" Theon asked hoping that he wouldn't get punished for asking the question. This seemed to get the fathers attention as he stopped what he was doing and turned to look at him.

"Excuse me…." He said, once more giving off that feeling of power around him. Theon swallowed whatever fear he was feeling and procced to talk.

"Ramsay's mother? He mentioned her and I wanted to know if she's still alive." He said weakly.

Roose had remembered Ramsay's mother well. She was the spitting image of Ramsay, curly black hair and the same type of nose. She had been his secretary. She got all of Roose's work done and kept his schedule perfect. Then he learned that she was secretly married to a baker and he made it his personal mission to punish her for it.

If she was married then it would severely affect him as well, he would have to spend time finding a replacement and she was the best at her job. So in the end he broke into their home and strangled the husband while he slept and then forced himself onto her as her husband's fresh corpse lay beside them. She didn't know who attacked her as Roose had worn a mask during the attack but nine months later she died in childbirth. Roose decided to take the child seeing as it was his flesh and blood and he had in a way caused her death.

It had been great for his public image. The newspaper had read as 'Roose Bolton welcomes new bundle of joy!" Along with a picture of him holding a baby Ramsay in his arms. Ramsay was crying in the photo as he expected he would. It had made him favourable with the Starks as they respected how he had the kindness in his heart to raise another woman's child by himself. Something Catelyn wished she could have done.

The Lannister's' had respected him for doing it too. He expected this as well seeing as they had a strong family bond. Perhaps too strong. Cersei was the only one he trusted with the truth of his conception. She had let him know of her children's parentage so if one told the other could go down in flames as well, that being the reason he was down here in the first place. To try and find something so that they could get the Lannister's out of their current situation.

Roose then went around the back to see the extent of what he had done to Theon and he had to admit that this was the most interesting way he had done the torture. The signature X mark that Roose strongly disapproved off as it could be easily linked back to them was deeper than the last couple of people and his back was like a piece of modern art. So many different shapes and curves carved into it.

Then he realised why he was asking. Roose Bolton was smarter then most men and knew exactly the game that he was trying to play. "If you're trying to get information to use against my son in an emotional attempt to blackmail him it won't work." Roose could see through him, he knew what he was trying to do and he wasn't going to give him any leverage against his son, then again he did enjoy creating situations and watching how they reacted.

"I admire you for trying at least." Roose said honestly. Mind games were his forte and he could appreciate it when Ramsay's victims would try to logically figure their way out of it instead of just screaming for help. Then again he supposed Theon must have been tired of the screaming. Roose took note of the white dried substance on the floor. He could piece together what had taken place.

Both were drawn from their thoughts as they heard the creaking of the first step. Ramsay had now joined the party. Ramsay was fearful when he saw the cellar door open but was relieved to only find his father.

"Father, I see you've introduced yourself to my newest pet." He was planning to introduce them sooner but Theon was proving rather resistant. They'd be having family dinner soon enough though. Ramsay went up to hug him but it seemed that he wasn't in the mood.

Roose then remembered something else to do with his son. "I needed to talk to you."

"What about?" Both Theon and Ramsay were interested to see where this was going.

"You're little escaped at the police station nearly caused you to get caught." This caught Theon by surprise. Why in the seven hells was Ramsay at the police station? That would have totally risked himself. Ramsay was panicked for a moment but held up his calm façade.

"I assure you I have this all under control." He said. Ramsay always was trying to prove himself to his father but nothing seemed to be working. Roose was done with having this pointless conversation. He had said what he needed to say and he had done what he needed to do. He found the papers and was quick to be on his way out. He was meeting with Catelyn Stark to talk about where they would host the wedding of Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey. Walder wanted a public display for all to see, it was a big event so naturally he had to be involved as well.

"You'd better. I'm not bailing you out. Also your thing was attempting to get information to use against you from me. Do with him what you will." He mentioned as he was walking up the steps much to the dismay of Theon. He shook his head to the side but Roose didn't even have the decency to look at him.

Ramsay slowly turned around to Theon and stopped for a moment. He had been betrayed and he didn't even need to be brought down from the X.

Roose looked on as Ramsay proceeded to yank Theon by his longish hair and throw him down to the floor and proceeded to kick and punch him. Roose had no emotional investment at this point he had seen his son do this a million times before and he doubted it would be his last.

He walked away and this was enough to get Ramsay to stop bloodying Theon. Roose did care about his firstborn but he didn't want to have to be around when he played his sick games.

"Come upstairs. We'll need to discuss some things." He said seeing as how Ramsay was getting a bit too carried away in his beating.

"Of course." Ramsay said reluctantly. Ramsay pulled Theon up one last time and planted a kiss on his lips before promptly punching him in the face. Ramsay had left him alone. He was down from the cross but he knew he wasn't going to be moving anytime soon.

Ramsay was at an interesting point with Theon. He could see that he was beginning to crack but he was still trying to fight him. It was interesting as Ramsay's mind began to wonder about what would be the act that breaks the poor little Greyjoy. It could be when he started to remove body parts, when he flayed his skin or when he fucked Theon into the dirt hard he would forget Robb even existed. The possibilities were endless.

Theon reeked of nothing but blood, sweat, tears and other bodily fluids that weren't his own. He had tried so hard to try and keep it together but his was unravelling and he had no idea how much longer he could last before completely shattering.

Then a thought stuck him. Where would he go if he was able to escape? He now knew that none of the Starks would be coming after him, his dad was pissed of it him, his sister was probably out at sea doing god knows what with the Targaryen girl, most likely fucking and drinking until the morning.

He would have nowhere to go. No one who would care about him. Then again there was one person who said he cared about him.

Theon had to mentally slap himself when he took a moment to re-think the thought that had popped into his mind. He was being tortured by insane psychopath who starved him, branded him, beat him within an inch of his life and was most likely going to kill him when he felt like it. Ramsay didn't care about him and that was a cold hard fact. Theon didn't know what was happening but there was a small corner in his mind telling him that he should stay with Ramsay, both out of the need for self-preservation and having nowhere else to truly call home.

Robb had wanted him to talk to a therapist about his lack of feeling accepted but he had refused. He remembered the exact words he had used. 'I'm already fucked up Robb, a therapist is only going to make it worst.' He tried to get himself to stop thinking about him but he couldn't. He knew Robb wasn't like that but it had been his voice. Theon could never mistake his accent which could make him melt in an instant.

He curled up and tried not to think about it. He didn't cry. He could hear his sister's words ringing loud and clear in his ear that he should man up and try to find a way out of this situation. If he could just find something sharp then maybe it was the only way he could be free.

He looked at his wrist and one of the worst thoughts he had conceived since coming here popped into his head.

It may have only been a week and a bit but he was so broken that he was already considering suicide a valid option. He didn't know how much longer he could hold up. He knew his mental state was decaying like his physical state was but he didn't know if he could bring himself to do it. Theon was sure of one thing. Ramsay's game was played so that he was always in control but if he was able to take away that control then he would be the winner.

Then again he knew how stupid it would be if he failed. If Ramsay somehow caught him in the act and punished him accordingly. He dreaded to think what that might have been.

When he tried to lift himself up off the cold He was too sore and tired to even begin putting more psychological pressure on himself.

He was going to get out but it was a question of how he would. For the future seemed grim.

"What do you mean I nearly got caught?" Ramsay said hitting the table full force. He was so sure that he had done everything right and not left any evidence that they could find. Roose was immune to his son's outbursts. They simply got no reaction from him anymore as he had been dealing with them for the past two decades or so. Roose motioned his hand as to say 'Sit down and calm down'. Ramsay reluctantly did as his father told him.

"You nearly got caught as they found part of a hair." Roose said handing him a report on the analysis of the keychain. To say it had been hard to get it was an understatement. There were more police men then he could count and what was worse was that there were people who he knew who would come up and talk to him. It had been impossible to get a moment when he could find it and slip away unnoticed.

"Were they able to get a match?" Ramsay said asking the real question he wanted an answer to. If they had his hair then it was more things that they could use to identify him.

"Thankfully not. I don't want you doing anything like that again." Roose didn't want to have to tell his son this basic rule of committing a crime but it seemed he had no choice. He was getting reckless and he needed to be pulled back in before he was too far gone.

Ramsay couldn't believe what his father was trying to say to him. It was like telling him to change his personality. He wasn't going to do that anytime soon, he enjoyed himself too much.

"But father it was just-!" He was going to justify his actions by say that he didn't get caught in the end and everything was okay but his father interrupted him. His father was used to doing this as well.

"I don't want any excuses. Do not do anything like this again or I will not save you when you get caught." He said with finality in his voice. He was only doing this because he cared about his son and didn't want to see him go to prison. Or worse, Death Row. He had murdered enough men, women and children to get him put there twenty times over.

This however only fuelled Ramsay's desire to disobey him even more. He didn't like taking commands like one of his dogs and certainly was able to bite back when he wanted to.

As soon as he left he began to think about what he could do that would piss off his father. There were several ways he could do it but he needed it to be something special. Something that would make a scene.

Then he got a sick idea. One that would kill two birds with one stone. It would break Theon and annoy his father. He began to play the next game in his head and get things ready. He was getting excited at the thought of it.

For his next game he required another player.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been a week and 6 days. One more day and then Theon Greyjoy would be dead to the world.

Robb had gotten a small calendar to help him count but the more red X's he saw the less he ate and the less he slept. With the deadline approaching so soon he couldn't help but be active all the time. The dread of finding Theon was too much for him to bare.

This was one of the few times that Robb wasn't in the station. Brienne had sent him home to at least get 6 hours sleep then he could come back. It was just him and Sansa in the house as Catelyn was out getting groceries to make him food and Jon was taking Bran and Rickon to the park for a bit. Robb was glad that there weren't many people about.

"I'm scared Sansa." No one had even started the conversation. He just needed to say it. He didn't want to admit it, especially to his little sister but he was terrified. Terrified of losing him, terrified knowing that he had caused all of this.

Theon didn't deserve any of this. Yes, he could be a complete asshole sometime and he did lack responsibility but that didn't deserve to be tortured by a maniac who also happens to brand people as his own.

He didn't know what would be worse once tomorrow was over. Finding the body and knowing it would be there or having to face the Greyjoy family and not knowing what the hell to expect. He would readily accept death for when Yara came at him with whatever sharp item happened to be the closest to her person. Theon's sister loved him and when she went into her sister mode there was no stopping her.

Sansa was making a cup of tea and by the tone of voice he was using she got out another mug and another rose flavoured teabag she had gotten from Margaery. It was clear that they were going to have to have a talk. While the kettle was boiling she sat down on the small space that was left on the sofa beside him.

"I'm going to tell you a story. About me and Joffrey." She said while the memories began to cloud her eye sight.

The Lannister's were a touchy subject for everyone in the Stark Family but by far the one you didn't mention was Joffrey. Sansa and Joffrey had been 'Sweethearts' in high school and then when they had left that's when things had taken a turn for the worst. Joffrey became unstable, more unstable than usual. He began to hit Sansa and then things got really crazy. He would make her watch as he tortured animals right in front of her and he would come home drunk with random prostitutes.

Sansa was beaten really badly one time and then the angel known as Margaery Tyrell had come down and saved her. She had been able to get Joffrey to forget all about her and to her utter surprise he hadn't tried to contact her since. Apparently he had gotten himself into hospital after getting a bad case of food poising from a pie. He had been in there for over two weeks.

"When I was with him I was so scared that I would die. I would be beaten into nothing but a bloody pulp. There was one thing that kept me going. The thought of you and mum and everyone else. As long as Theon thinks about you then he'll find the strength to keep going." She reassured him. Everyone had supported her after she got out, even Theon had helped her by taking her out on a relaxing boat trip along the Narrow Sea. When Theon got back, which she knew was going to happen, she was going to help him like he had helped her. It was the least she could do to repay his kindness.

"Memories won't stop a knife." He knew where she was coming from and the emotional side of things but he knew that Theon wouldn't be able to defend himself from when Ramsay decided to kill him.

"You got me out before Joffrey killed me. You'll get Theon before this Mister X kills him."

"Thanks Sansa." An accidental yawn escaped him. He was more tired than he would admit. Sansa caught him in the act and was up off the sofa and grabbing his arm to drag him straight to bed. "Go to bed Robb. The sooner you get sleep the sooner you get back out there." She said in the best convincing voice she could. She had been spending way too much time with Petyr and learning his tricks of the trade.

It seemed that it worked as Robb was about to open his mouth to say something but then he lost whatever words he was going to use, he closed it promptly. As their mother said 'You'll catch flies if you keep it open.

"You're right. There's still one day left and we can hunt him down. Hunt him down like a dog."

"Reek, I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere." Ramsay said as he looked down at Theon one more. It was getting to his fortnight deadline but he had made up his mind about what to do. Normally he would have gotten bored but Theon as providing him with too much fun to just kill him like he had done with the others. His plan was so close to completion but he just needed the final element for it to be completed.

Ramsay had been saying that a lot recently and Theon hadn't the slightest idea why. His first instinct was to think that he had found someone else to play with but he knew that he could just as well be planning more torture for him.

Ramsay had been kind enough to leave Theon a whole two slices of bread and some out of date ham. Theon was too hungry to care and ate it in a second flat. He knew it was against his better judgement and that he should preserve it but his basic human instincts were taking a hold.

When he heard Ramsay go up the steps as usual he waited for all the routine sounds like clockwork. He feared that he would turn around and scold him for making such quick work of the sandwich but nothing happened. He heard the slamming of the door as usual.

Something was off. A sound was missing. A sound of a door being locked. Theon had to take a moment to look up and sure enough it was slightly a jar. Theon couldn't physically believe it. Out of all the ways he escapes it was because the door hadn't been closed properly. Ramsay had forgotten to do the one thing that was keeping him there. Theon wasted no time whatsoever, he was going to get out of this hellhole as soon as he could.

His legs were weak but the drive at the closeness of his freedom was driving him to ignore his body pains and get up the steps as fast as he could. He scrapped his hands of the splintered wood in the steps but it was minimal compared to what Ramsay had been doing to him. A little wood in his flesh was better than being chained to it again.

Before he gripped on the handle he had to stop himself, his hand hovering over it while shaking. It seemed to perfect an opportunity. He considered the possibilities that it was possibly one of Ramsay's sick and twisted games. A test of some kind for his loyalty to him. Bolton would have been clever enough to know that this type of trick would work.

If Ramsay caught him he would be tortured again but if he didn't he was going to get tortured again anyway.

He couldn't do it anymore he had to run.

As he swung open the door he repeated the words of his religion in his head. 'What is dead may never die' If he got out of here alive he was going to make it his personal mission to burn the church of the drowned god for putting him though this yet he also felt that if he was able to get out of there he would pray to him every day for saving him.

When he reached the top of the steps it wasn't what he was expecting at all. It was the exact opposite of the basement. This was a modern home which had electricity, heating and no bugs whatsoever. He could have laughed at the fact that he had been living so comfortably while he had been suffering a couple of meters away.

He nearly choked on the clean air when it reached his lungs. It was so clean and pure unlike the rotting stench of death he had been exposed to constantly for the past nearly two weeks. He had to double over and gag for a second, trying to adjust to the sensation. There were only two smells that Theon knew well. The salt of the sea and the grass of the forest. He could tell it was the forest instantly. He would kill to breath sea air once again.

When he recovered he picked himself back up and tried to locate the door. He house was pretty big, he supposed it made sense seeing as his father was Roose Bolton. Another thing that he noticed was how many official boxes of work there seemed to be. Roose wasn't kidding when he said that he had a lot of papers to sort though. Theon began to wonder whether he was in Ramsay's own home of if it was his fathers.

He tried the front door and miraculously out seemed to be open. He didn't know whether he had any security cameras around the house. He looked back around, back to the basement door. He could go back now and Ramsay wouldn't have to know. Theon was mentally at a cross road again. He knew that he could be free but something in his mind was stopping him form leaving. Ramsay's influence had seeped into his mind but Theon was too stubborn to acknowledge it.

Theon didn't know what to expect what he saw when he ran outside but too only see a desolate wood and darkness made his eyes widened even more not with shock but with worry. He was essential stuck in the middle of god knows where and he had no clue of where he was going.

He took a moment so that he could breathe and try to figure out his situation. He thought of what Robb would do in this situation but he kept on hearing what he said on the tape over and over. _'Stupid Northerner'_. The funny thing was he didn't know if he was talking about Robb or himself at this point. He began running in to the woods thinking he would be able to get out of it quickly. His brain wasn't exactly thinking straight.

That's when it hit him.

He was born in Pyke, so naturally he always had a natural instinct as to where North was he looked around for a moment and when he felt right he began to run once more. Going north would bring him home. He should've really been walking as if he fell and broke something it would be the end of the game for him. Then again he'd rather risk breaking something on his own accord then having Ramsay break it for him.

He continued this way for about 20 minutes. He had gotten far but all of his efforts were about to be lost.

As Theon was running a small unrooted branch caused him to trip over and hit his head, luckily for Theon the only damage that was cause was unconsciousness. As he lay there going in and out of consciousness he tried to keep himself awake but like all things in his time with Ramsay they all faded to black eventually.

A branch. That had been what had awoken the Greyjoy when it fell from its tree and hit him smack in the middle of the face. When Theon moved his eyes he saw that he was still in the same location as he had left it. He rested his head back on the ground out of gratitude that Ramsay hadn't found him. Theon had no idea how long he had been unconscious for but he hoped it had only been for a couple of minutes. Unaware to him he had been lying there for over 4 hours. And Ramsay had just arrived home with his new friend. Needless to say when he found out that his pet was missing he flipped the fuck out. He got his newest hostage ready and then was searching frantically for him. He screamed his name, both new and old in the hopes that he would at least be scared enough to respond.

Ramsay tore the house apart thinking that he could be hiding anywhere. After throwing everything everywhere and essentially screwing up his father's paperwork he ran a hand through his hair and gave a psychotic laugh. He could see what Theon was doing.

This was a game of hide and seek.

Ramsay laughed at the delight that Theon had provided him with. Oh yes, this was going to be a very fun game. Seeing as Theon had a head start it only seemed fitting that get an advantage as well. Contrasting to before he was no longer angrily stomping about the place but instead had a spring in his step as he made his way around to the kennels.

With a part of Theon's clothes he held it up to his dog's noses and they began to bark viciously.

He unlocked the door.

Theon had gotten up again and began walking along. He didn't have the strength to run so he preserved his energy for when he needed it later on.

He heard something. It wasn't footsteps it was more like an animal running though the leaves. A dog perhaps. As soon as he took a moment to listen he heard something in the not very far away distance. He breathed a sigh of relief as it was just a dog barking. The longer he listened the closer it got and the more frequent it became.

The barking got more vicious and then another much more terrifying noise followed. One that struck fear into his heart more than any animal could.

"Good girls, now got fetch my Reek." The voice seemed to echo for eternity though the forest but Theon only took it in for a second before he used the strength he had been saving up to run as fast as he could.

Theon began running as fast as his weakened body could allow him to. He guessed that the bag of dog food in the basement now made sense. He only got a quick glimpse of the dogs and they were mongrels, of what type he didn't know but his teeth gave him a good indication that he should be very afraid.

The dogs were pinning him down and barking loudly into his ear but they only seemed to be nipping at his arms to keep him down. These dogs had been specially trained for hunting. Robb had told him about them one time. They had been tried to keep the suspect from moving but they didn't need to maim him. They were strong enough to do that on their own.

He could see the figure approaching closer and he tried to run away but each time he tried to move the dogs would swipe their paws at him to keep him in line. It was eventually when he heard a whistle that they stopped. Theon's weak body tried to move but instead of an animal paw holding him it was a human hand. Ramsay's hand.

"I can't leave you for 10 seconds can I?" He said jokingly as he looked him dead in the eyes, unblinking. Like the leader of the gang of dogs looking at the unfortunate prey.

He picked Theon up with ease and brought him back to the prison he had been trapped in for almost two weeks, he was squirming to get out but Ramsay laughed at his pitiful attempt at an escape. Ramsay was glad to see that fear but it was getting annoying at this point. He wanted him to be broken but he wasn't quite there yet. He had no doubts in his mind that the next game would break him totally or at least push him further to there.

When Ramsay was bringing him back to the house. He noticed how Ramsay's car boot was open. It looked like he had brought somethings home. A sweat drop began to form when after a closer looked he saw two zip ties that had been cut. It hadn't been a thing it had been someone.

He didn't get much for the scene except that the person had partially bled out in the back of the trunk.

"Why are you trying to escape me Theon?" Ramsay asked with a half convincing heartbroken sigh.

"Please master I'm sorry." Theon said in the most sorry and humble voice he could muster. If he grovelled hard enough then Ramsay might just go easy on him. With that said Ramsay going easy was the equivalent of having skin removed while still conscious.

As Theon could see the ominous stairs looming he was desperate not to go back there. His eyes searched from side to side looking for any excuse not to. He gulped and asked the first thing that had popped into his mind. "Who's here?"

Ramsay stopped in his tracks. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw zip ties. In the back of your car." Thein braced himself to be dropped on the ground. Instead of a slap to the already injured head he received a light pat on it.

"Oh yes. Well perceived Reek. I was just thinking that it's been awfully lonely and two player games get a bit dull after a while. I brought one of your friends to help us play the next game." There were a million possibilities that it could have been but he didn't want it to be any of them. He didn't doubt that Ramsay had obviously gotten someone very close to him. A new way to

Ramsay could see he was trying to distract himself from it so he decided that he would bring him back to reality. His reality.

"Oh Theon, you were about to miss our next game. I brought someone special to play." He said in the sadistic singsong tone. Theon didn't know who it could be but he didn't want to know. He prayed it wasn't Yara. He couldn't deal with her seeing him in such a vulnerable state.

Ramsay walked out leaving him bound to the post and walked into another room just beside it. To Theon it just seemed like a giant mirror but from where Ramsay was currently standing it looked like a giant window. One way glass was a wonderful thing. It made for interesting torture methods. Roose originally had it installed for his own use but since Roose didn't really need it Ramsay was making sure that it didn't go to waste.

Ramsay poked the body he had tied to the chair in an attempt at getting them to wake up. He had to admit that it had been a hassle to get her here but then again the she was told by his father that she was a handful normally. And a royal pain in the ass to work with.

" _Catelyn, it's time to wake up, we have a game to play with Theon."_


	9. Chapter 9

Quick warning this chap contains non con so if you don't like that stuff please do not read.

* * *

Cat was never a heavy drinker.

True she appreciated a good gin now and again and she was also fond of a good scotch but she hadn't had any recently. So why she was waking up with a major headache was a mystery to her. It didn't feel like a drinking headache though.

As she became aware of her surroundings she became aware that she wasn't in her normal home at Winterfell. She tried to remember that the hell she had been doing last and while her memories were foggy she defiantly could recall herself bringing out the groceries to the car and then a noise of rustling leave then nothing. It was like something out of a bad horror movie.

She tried to move her hands but the seemed to be restricted by something. When she woke up more she could see what it was keeping her hands restrained. Two rather thick straps of leather. This acted as her wakeup call and that's when her thrashing truly started.

During her attempted escape she heard a small snicker, almost as if someone was enjoying seeing her struggle. "I see you've finally woken up." It came from the direction that the sicker had as well.

There was a man in the room with her but only now had he chosen to come into the light. He was wearing a mask that covered the majority of his face. Catelyn wouldn't be able to identify him at all.

Before he could come any closer to her she growled for a moment and stared him down.

"I will kill you with my bare hands." She didn't even have to think about it. She wasn't going to be intimidated by anyone. Especially some sick person who had chained her up.

"But if you kill me then who'll play the game with Theon? Only I know the rules." Ramsay loved that few couple of seconds before the penny dropped with his victims. Catelyn's heart stopped for a moment. She realised that Theon had really been kidnapped by this mad man. She thought that it had been Theon just running off but she guessed that this just proved her wrong.

"This is a one way mirror. You can see Theon but he can't see you. The game is simple. I will leave this door open but you must resist the temptation to come into the room. If you come in I will kill him. Got it?" He had thought all of this out and he knew it would work. If it didn't then he'd have to find two new people to play with.

He flicked the switch and waited for Catelyn's reactions.

She had originally been planning to kill him with her bare hand but what she saw completely stopped her and any plans of escape.

Catelyn was able to get a proper look at Theon now and she immediately began to regret every time she had bad mouthed him and wished he was dead. It was the worst she had ever seen him. She had worked part time in social services and she had seen children who had been neglected who had looked exactly like. It was even more terrifying to see it on an adult. Skin and bones was the only way to describe him. Filthy could have also been used as well to describe both his body and his hair.

"The key to get out of the chains is in your pocket. Only use it when I say or the both of you die. I can't stand cheaters." It was extremely annoying when people disobeyed his games but yet when he screwed other people over he found it hilarious.

"Why are you doing this?" Her eyes never left Theon for a moment. She wanted to make sure he was still breathing but she saw the chest raising ever so slowly. Malnutrition could cause breathing problems and she doubted he was kind enough to get him to a hospital.

"I'll go tell Theon the rules of the game now." He left the room completely ignoring her question.

Ramsay re-entered in the room where Theon was situated. He hadn't been in this room before but it was weird. He was sat facing a huge mirror. It looked like the interrogation room where Robb would sometimes bring him into the station for great make out sessions.

Ramsay had turned off the sound so Catelyn wouldn't be able to hear what he was going to say to Theon, the specific rules he would be implementing for him. He had a feeling that Theon had been here long enough to know that he should follow the rules perfectly.

Theon was tied to a chair and there was also a table in the room. He didn't know what he was planning but he could guess that this game was going to be especially brutal. Theon thought that maybe since it looked like a police set up then maybe he was going to do some kind of torture interrogation.

"Okay Theon I'm going to explain how his game works. I have Catelyn Stark in the other room, the door is open. If you say the word, I'll let you go but she'll have to take your place. She seems a lot feistier then you. Might even give me a better fight. Breaking her would be fun. "

Theon had gotten pretty good at telling when Ramsay was fucking around and when he was deadly serious and he knew that Cat was in the room next to him. He then put together it was a one way mirror. Cat could see him but she could see him. She was looking at his wrecked body.

"Also imagine how Robb would feel. You trading your place for the mother. How pathetic." Ramsay was just twisting the knife now, taking a hit at both his confidence and his love for Robb.

He had been here for about two weeks and over that time Ramsay had reinforced the message of how pathetic he was. He was starting to believe it himself. He had gotten himself into the situation too. Ramsay had even coined a small rhyme about it _'Reek, Reek it rhymes with weak.'_ Like a virus it had physically implanted into his brain and was festering into his subconscious.

He didn't know what to do. Freedom was the only thing he wanted. He would give anything for it but not Robb's happiness. Even if Robb didn't love him anymore he still loved Robb and he knew that he wouldn't put Catelyn thought this.

True, he and Catelyn didn't have the best relationship in seven kingdoms but Ramsay was something that no one else should be exposed to. "What do you want me to do?" He asked knowing he wouldn't like whether he agreed or not.

"Scream and look at the mirror." He whispered in his ear. Theon could guess that the screaming would be involuntary.

Ramsay had designed it so that Theon would be forced to see him on top of him while looking directly at Catelyn in the process as she watched as he broke underneath him. Ramsay always liked to think of himself as the game master and his rules meant that everyone who wasn't him had to suffer for his amusement.

And the sexual aspect of all of this was long overdue for Ramsay. He had kept him for two weeks watching him waste away, listen to him scream and seen his resistance. He was ready to do this.

"Let the game begin."

As soon as the bolts of the chair were undone he was thrown onto a table he had brought into the room. Theon assumed he would bring out the knife and sure enough he brought out the blade that had already been introduced to his skin many times before but this time instead of going for his skin he went for the rags that Ramsay had provided him with.

The knife cut them swiftly and the top half of his body was revealed to her. She thought that his face was the worst that she could see but was proven wrong when her eyes were made witness to the practically mangled mess that was his torso. The knife marks and showing ribs were enough to make even the strongest of men gag but it was the branded X mark that made her physically throw up. It didn't look healthy at all, it was a very sickly yellow and the top had slightly crystallised with a red rim around the edges.

She was so entrapped by the markings on his body it took her a moment to even realise that Ramsay was in the process of taking of his trousers.

Theon knew what he wanted at this point and what he was going to do. He would have been fighting but it was Ramsay. He was going to do what he liked with him regardless of what he said or did. He also knew well enough at this point that he had probably rigged it so that Catelyn was tied down or something so she physically couldn't come in. Catelyn had already gotten the key and unchained herself.

Catelyn wanted to do many things. She wanted to bang against the glass to let Theon know that she was there, she wanted to rush in there and smash his face into an unrecognisable pulp but most of all she wanted to just hold him and tell him that he was going to be okay and that Robb was going to find them both now.

A vague recollection of Robb telling her that it was the second week that this Mr X killed his victim. If she wasn't mistaken tonight would be the final night of Theon Greyjoy's life. It dawned on her that this was it. He was going to torture then kill him and she would be the star witness.

She ran over to the door but then stopped herself. If she stayed put then Mister X said he would spare him. She didn't care what she had to do or if she had to take his place. She would do it without a second thought.

Ramsay dropped his own pants and the reality of the situation became real to Theon. He was going to be raped in front of his future mother in law and likely be killed afterwards. He was welcoming death at this point. If they got out of there alive he didn't think that he could look at Catelyn ever again.

The scream that left his lips as he made the first push in shocked both Catelyn and Ramsay. Ramsay because it had been the loudest and most pained he had heard it while Catelyn was shocked at the horror of it all. He sounded like a banshee and there was sobbing. Good god there was sobbing. And pleading as well, pleading for Ramsay to get off of him.

He wasn't going to lie. He and Robb had done it a lot of times before. More than he would like to admit but Robb had been a total gentleman during all of it. They had gone at a speed which suited both of them. He had also had the luxury of having lube readily available, Ramsay was only going to be using blood as the thing that would try to ease Theon's pain.

Reality sucker punched him in the face when he felt Ramsay's canine like teeth sink into his shoulder. He had drawn blood and was in the process of licking it. Catelyn was disgusted by this as well, he was like some kind of cannibal.

Theon was too frightened to move. If he did move he would be free from all of this. He could once again feel the ocean salt against his lips. Cat on the other had would have to feel everything he had felt and more. She was considerably older then him and he had an inkling that every though she could sass the ear off him to hell and back it wouldn't be enough to withstand the torture he was put though.

Ramsay quickened his pace, making sure to make it as excruciating as possible.

Theon didn't mean for the quiet moan to escape. He tried to cover his mouth to silence himself but Ramsay was quick and had already caught on to the involuntary sexual noise. Ramsay stopped for a moment to savour the moment, he had finally gotten his pet to do something for him.

"Do you hear that Catelyn? He likes it. Tell me I'm so much better then Robb ever was." He said the venom dripping of his snake like tongue. Theon's cried where muffled as he tried to smash his face on the table to cover the fact that his body was reacting to him in this way.

"You are so much better then….then..." Theon was struggling to get it out due to the pain of Ramsay still ploughing into him and it felt like the ultimate emotional betrayal. He still had no idea if what Robb was saying on the tape was true but if it was he would feel only a slight bit better about the moment.

Ramsay wasn't a man of patients when it came to answering him so he slammed his head down and went in really close to his head so that his lips just brushed the top of his ear. "Say it or I'll knock your teeth out." He said as a warning, he then bit the ear in a sexual way once more making Theon make noises he didn't want to be making.

He had been pitifully grovelling but none quiet as much as now. "You're so much better then Robb master. Please." Theon couldn't see Catelyn's eyes but he'd bet anything that she despised him in this moment. He'd just said that in front of her and there was now ways that she'd forgive him. He was cheating on her son right in front of her eyes. From his point of view he was letting him do it to keep her safe so he translated this as technically consenting. That was the way Theon saw it however from where Catelyn was seated she could see more clearly what was going on. Ramsay was forcing him to do it.

"I'm so sorry Cat!" He pleaded proceeding to avoid eye contact with her by looking down at the table as Ramsay continued the dirty work. This wasn't worse in terms of pain that Ramsay had inflicted onto him but in terms of what it was doing to him mentally it was more devastating then everything combined.

Catelyn shuddered to think that Theon had been tortured to such a point he was apologising for this when none of this was his fault. It was creepy when she thought about it, he was apologising for being attacked.

Cat tried to cry out but she knew that she would have to stay silent or he would die. If there was any way to get out of this with both of them alive she would've found it by now Catelyn was a woman who took action and when she wasn't able to that was when she panicked. Much like Ramsay she needed to have control of the events that surrounded her.

"Look at him Catelyn, I know your trying to look away." Ramsay said as he made a particularly hard thrust, making the body underneath him squirm.

He was silently crying as Ramsay kept the promise to fuck him into the dirt. Or rather into submission.

Catelyn didn't like Theon but she couldn't stand this. It was a sickening display. She couldn't see his face throughout the attack and she didn't recognise his voice at all. While he was at the police station Ramsay had changed his voice to sound a lot higher than it really was. For this he was using his actually voice.

None of them had any idea how much longer that it continued but Ramsay would say he had done long enough that Theon had stopped all of his crying and was just lying there with short breaths as he made short sobs and waited for it to end.

Catelyn could see how his body reacted when Ramsay finally did him the mercy of finishing up. It made the worst sound. It was a squelching with a hint of Theon breathlessness as well.

As Ramsay pulled away from Theon lay there and tried to process what had just happened. He had just fucked before the mother of his ex-fiancé. How is anyone meant to react to that situation? Before Theon's shaking body could move an inch he felt Ramsay grab his head and slam it down hard into the table, promptly knocking him out.

"You can come in now. The game is over." Ramsay said looking straight at her. His eyes then cast themselves back down to his handy work. That had been one of the most things he had done in a while. He never thought that having an audience could be that much fun but he was proven wrong.

Catelyn didn't need to even hear the end of the sentence before she was in there looking at the mess that befell her eyes. His injuries somehow managed to look worse up close, the only difference was she was all out of stomach contents so throwing up was impossible at this point.

"Oh my god, Theon." She tried waking him up but it was clear he was out cold. She quickly checked his pulse just to make sure he was still alive. When she heard a rapid thumping so breathed a sigh of relief.

"I doubt he's going to hear you at all but do whatever makes you happy." He said as he waited by the door with an apple in hand, crunching loudly and completely disregarding the emotions that she was feeling.

She didn't even acknowledge he was in there. She tried to wipe the wetness from around his eyes. He had cried so much during all of it. "I did what you wanted now let him free." Cat said holding his head hoping he would wake up so she could tell him that he was okay and that he was going to be free from all of it.

"I have already done my part." Ramsay said taking another bite out of the apple.

Cat was confused. She knew he was crazy but what he was saying didn't make any sense.

"He's free… from the X isn't he?" He said pointing his knife over to the X

She had wanted him to go away but she never wished this upon him. She wouldn't wish this treatment upon the Lannister's let alone the man her son was going to marry. There was a tremendous amount of guilt that she was feeling for not being able to save him.

She didn't cry easily but she was going to burst into tears at the sight of him.

"Cat…" Theon said half consciously. His brain was like static at the moment. All fuzzy with no idea of what was going on, the only reason he said Cat was because it was the last thing he saw before blacking out. He wasn't aware that she was the one holding his head and comforting him. All he knew was that it smelt like Robb and that was enough to comfort him.

"Theon. It's going to be okay. We're going to get you out of here. It's okay."

This was exactly like the time she had comforted him when he was younger and Ned had brought him home for the first time away from the bastard of a father Balon. She had held his head and told him to be a strong boy and that he was so brave. He didn't exactly look like a strong boy at the moment but he knew that the strong boy was in there somewhere and he needed to be brought out.

Theon stirred more as she spoke and Ramsay knew he had to intervene. He couldn't have Catelyn telling him that Robb still cared. She heard Ramsay coming up behind her swiftly when she turned her head she was met with a metal crowbar to the head. It was an instantaneous knock out. He had gotten good at knowing how much force to use on a person when using it.

Since Ramsay deciding he was going to keep Theon he needed the police to stop looking for him. What better way to do it then by faking Theon's death for him. And how better to do it then by having a witness to go back and tell them.

Now just to get everything set up.

Theon was unfortunately the first of the two to wake up. His head was still messed up but he felt a small shred of comfort as he felt warm clothes back onto his body and he wasn't bent over a table. He could tell that he was chained to a chair ad something felt wrong with his abdomen, like there was something squidgy on it. He saw red and assumed it was him who was bleeding. When he didn't feel any pain he only got more confused about the entire situation.

"Theon, If you play dead I'll let her go. If you don't I'll let you go." He said as he seemed to tighten something around his waist.

Theon instantly knew his answer. He wasn't going to let anyone else endure this type of treatment. He nodded and Ramsay filled him in on what was going to happen as soon as Cate woke up. As Ramsay told him the plan he got sicker with each passing moment.

When Cat woke up again she was bound to the chair once more but this time Theon was tied to a chair opposite her. He looked a wreck with his head hanging low to avoid her gaze. He didn't want to see the shame that would burn in her eyes.

Cat tried to think of what to say but nothing came to mind.

Ramsay held the knife up to show her that it was indeed real. He made a small cut on her forehead and she made a painful sounding scream, Theon still didn't look up. If he did anything that might upset his master then it would only end well for Ramsay.

Without a seconds warning he plunged it into the fake blood bag he had put onto him. Catelyn screamed as she saw it happening. The illusion was all too realistic for her. She honestly believed that one of her own had died before his own eyes. It just kept on pouring out of him like sand out of a sandbag. She thought she had seen the worst but this was took the cake. She somehow managed to throw up even more.

Theon upon seeing this freaked out and screamed at the top of his lungs before promptly fainting and giving him the illusion of having been killed right in front of her. It was warm and did feel like realistic blood. He guessed it must have been from either another animal or another person.

"You said you'd free him." He heard her say though her anger and sadness.

"I did. I freed him from this life." He was often used to fucking people of with the way he manipulated his words. That sweet little victory was so delicious to him.

"You bastard." There was no joy of being rid of him. She thought she would enjoy Theon leaving her son but not in this way. Robb was the only one who could fix him after this. Theon wasn't confident in himself at all and this had likely destroyed any part of him that was still clinging on.

"Well, while that's true I suppose you're glad he's dead. Now your son can move on. Also with his death you get to live." He tried to make it seem like a good thing. She had been one of the few people to survive his game and that was a rare achievement by most people who met him.

Cat had to admit that the only other time she had let herself cry this hard was when she thought that she had lost Bran after the incident. She only cried when she lost one of her children and right now Theon was like her child.

Ramsay was bored by the tears seeing as they were common by the women he brought here. They were all the genetic 'Don't kill me sir' and 'Let me live'. They had amused him for a while but lost their charm after the first couple of times. Cat seemed different but he had enough self-discipline learnt from his father that he shouldn't keep her.

He whispered in her ear gently. "The best part is he could have stopped it too but he wanted you to live. Don't you feel like a bitch now?"

She couldn't deal with this new information. Theon had gone through all of that just to save her. She didn't want to admit it but before these events she would have let him take her place. Theon had used his body to save her. She grasped his head heard and cradled him whispering how sorry she was for everything.

"Anyway, it's been lovely but you really have to get home. Sansa and Robb are worried sick." He said as one again he was behind her as she was in her distraught state. This time instead of a surprise blow to the head he instead used the small drop of chloroform. She was out pretty much instantly seeing as how her body had gone through a lot in one sitting.

Theon was awake to see him dragging the body away by the ankle. She looked like a lifeless corpse.

"Don't…" Theon said praying that he wasn't going to do what he had just done there now. Ramsay looked confused for a moment then back down to the body he was dragging. He only laughed when he copped onto what Theon was saying.

"I'm not going to do anything like _that_ , no she's much too old for my taste. My father on the other hand would have loved to take her. Should have invited him over before sending her back. Oh well, my father's a dick anyway I'm sure he'll live without it." He rambled to himself.

Theon was at rock bottom, the only person he had seen in two weeks who wasn't master or his father and she was being taken away to go tell the world he was dead. No one was going to come save him after this. This was going to be his life the rest of his numbered days.

Just as Ramsay picked up her body he looked at Theon one last time. He had shown his loyalty to him by both not leaving the room and by doing as he said concerning the blood bag and death scene. He was proud of how his little project was coming along.

" _Well done Reek, I'll reward you when I get back. With a bath I think. And a meal too."_


	10. Chapter 10

Robb was aware of a dull poking at his arm but he was so tired that he simply tried to ignore it, that was until the poking evolved into a harder poke and then into a soft punch until he woke up. He thought to himself for a moment that it was Theon in bed with him and he was going to roll over and give him a playful kiss but then he remembered that he wasn't there.

"Why….." He groaned as he rolled over and tried to go back to sleep and forget how he was missing his loved one. He then saw it was about 12 at night. He assumed that it had been only a couple hours of sleep. Then his eyes floated down to the day and it was official the final day of Theon's capture.

His eyes opened fully and saw who the cause of him waking up was. It turned out to be Sansa.

"You've been asleep for over 12 hours. I wanted to make sure you were still breathing." She said jokingly but then the joke seemed to have been completely ignored as he looked around for his things.

"Sansa, tell Cat I'm going back to work." With a great jump in his step he sprang out of his bed. Now realising the time and frantically looking around for his keys. He didn't realise that he had slept in that late. He was worried that he had wasted precious time and that something might have happened and he wouldn't have heard about it. If it wasn't for Sansa already being near the ground she surly would have fallen over.

Sansa watched from the door, knowing that there was no way she would be able to stop him seeing as he had the determined gleam in his eyes.

"Robb she hasn't come home yet." She said looking to the side uncomfortable. She had been gone a while and she really just wanted her back so she could speak some sense into her son. It was disturbing to see him being like this.

Robb looked at her like she was crazy. "That's weird." He knew that Cat could be busy with work sometimes but she had said that she only went out for a couple of groceries. It shouldn't have taken this many hours. Even Jon had come back with Rickon and Brandon and it would always take longer now because they had to take into account Bran's wheelchair.

Robb shook his head to refocus himself. He packed a couple of essentials because he felt like it could be a long night at the station. He also made sure that he packed himself a pack of tissues. If they found his body tonight then he knew he would weep long into the night. He had done it so many times before but the reality of seeing his cold dead body would demolish him.

Sansa and her older brother were standing at the door when they heard the frantic knocking, almost banging. Like a wounded animal needed to be let in to be saved from some kind of predator. Sansa was the one to answer but when she saw who it was she wish she hadn't.

Cat was standing there clearly breathless and her head was bleeding and it was clear as day that she had been crying. Sansa nearly screamed and this brought both Jon and Robb to the door as well. When they looked Catelyn up and down Jon brought out his gun to check outside while Robb and Sansa helped their shaking mother inside.

"Catelyn! What happened?" Jon asked concerned for his adoptive mother. She was shaking so badly, everyone could see her hands. It was like she was possessed and couldn't control herself.

They were also able to pick up on how here breathing was a mix between shallow and terrified. When they successfully got her seated Sansa was the first to call the police, she got connected though to Podrick who said that he and Brienne would be at least 20 minutes. She then got some minor medical supplies to help with the bleeding forehead she had.

They all gave her a moment to calm down and try to recompose herself why they all tried to figure out what had happened. Jon had come back inside at this point and he was already trying to figure out what had happened. The main picture forming in his mind was that she possible get mugged and that would explain the bruised and bloody forehead.

When they turned up light they got a better look at Catelyn's dress and it was splattered with blood. Catelyn hadn't even noticed until now and she grabbed a tissue to try and wipe it away but it only seeped into her clothing even more.

Sansa brought out the towel and some water which Catelyn seemed thankful for. As soon as the cooling sensation of the cloth on her head she seemed to be able to speak a little bit. Robb wanted her to save her strength but she had that look in her eyes which meant she was going to do something she didn't want to do but did it anyway because it needed to be done.

"It was Theon…"

Those words stopped everyones hearts at that very moment. Jon's because she had seen Mr X, Sansa's because it meant she had been in danger and Robb's because it was confirmation that Theon was still alive.

It left them in silence for a minute to take in the information. When it had settled in Sansa was the first to recover and began to clean her up again. "Mum are you sure?" Sansa had to be a hundred and ten percent sure that it was true. She didn't want her hopes given up.

"Mister X captured me. He took me to see Theon." She was trying to remember though all the haziness of it. She knew that to be of any help she would have to remember as much as possible.

The other all looked at her but not with disbelief. They knew that Catelyn was a woman of honour and would never lie about anything, especially Theon given the situation.

"Robb, I couldn't…." She couldn't go on as the sound of his screams still were present despite her being so far away. Only know she was thinking of what she could have done to stop all of it. She should have gone in and beaten him within an inch of his life. It's what she could have done but she didn't and he had ended up paying the price.

"What happened? Take it slow." Jon assured her. He then took out his phone and fumbled out until he got his voice recorder app. If he could get a statement now it would be fresher in her memory and less likely to be forgotten when she probably went to the hospital to get stitches. It wasn't a pretty sight but it could have been a lot worse, she could have been forced to stay and play his twisted games.

Catelyn tried her best to recall everything that had happened. Step by step she recalled the whole incident. She began with the first thing she remembered, going to the store and buying chicken soup to keep Robb and Jon's strength up.

"I was getting groceries then he knocked me out. I woke up in his lair-Basement-thing I don't know." As she told them she could recollect the sour taste that overpowered her before she was out of it. She didn't know what drug it was but if she had to guess she would say chloroform. After hearing Ned and Jon talk about it over so many dinners she could assume that all the symptoms matched up. This slightly concerned Jon as chloroform could mess with the memories and if they did bring a suspect in they could say that she was under the influence and confused about who it really was.

"Did you see what he looked like?" This was the most important question to any investigation and if she could give a clear description then they would get closer to catching this son of a bitch.

Cat tried her best to remember the face she saw and what he looked like while he was assaulting Theon but she couldn't remember what the illusive Mr X's face. As much as she tried it was really all a blur to her.

"He defiantly had curly black hair and blue eyes. They were light blue, like ice." She knew she would never forget those eyes. They hadn't blinked once during the entire thing and it made her think she was some kind monster but she already knew that it was true. Jon wrote that down and sent a quick text to get the sketch artist up and get his ass down to the station now. He guessed that she wouldn't give them much else but it wouldn't hurt to get some kind of feeling for what he looked like.

"What did Theon look like?" Robb asked finally piping up. He needed to know how badly he had been treated so he would know how badly he would need to torture Mr X in return.

Catelyn was tempted not to tell him how bad he looked as he could tell his reaction. She couldn't lie to her son when he was in such a vulnerable state. "He was so sickly, he had knife marks and bruises all over his body and…. He had a branding mark." She added on the last part as she only just remembered the X shaped mark that had been left in his skin.

"God…" Robb couldn't picture how Theon would look sickly, he was always kept a nice shape with a combination of Sansa's Lemon cakes and his sister's homemade sea food meals and other various other food. The only time he looked sickly was when he drank too much and would go past his limit, spending the rest of the night in the bathroom with Robb patting his back and helping him get over the worst of it.

She had to take a drink of water before beginning the second half of it. She didn't want to choke up or begin crying again. She needed to be strong for Robb, for her son.

"We were in separate rooms but there was a two way mirror, it belonged to the city police department." From her memory he could picture it in her mind and in one of the times she wanted to look away her eyes focused on a small logo of the Kings Landing Police Station.

This was when Jon and Robb looked at each other with the em 'Oh fuck'/em look. "He has ties with the police? He's someone on the force?! God damn it." This was when Robb first felt anger since they found Catelyn. If it was someone who had been on the team or someone he had worked with he would slaughter them.

Jon and Sansa could tell that Robb was on the verge of losing it so Sansa nodded for her cousin to intervene. Jon panicked but just said the first thing that came to mind.

"We'll get a full, proper statement later but what happened next?" Jon had no idea the mental pain that he was inflicting onto her when he said it. This was the part that Catelyn had been dreading. She knew that telling him he was dead would be the least painful part of it. Robb would have at least been expecting that. Robb had mentioned how he should prepare for the worst as Theon would likely be killed if they couldn't get him.

"He raped him." She saw no point in sugar coating it for him. When they did find his body they would find the marks anyway, there was no reason not to tell him. Except maybe the emotional impact.

Robb who had been pacing stopped as he got to the window. His hand pressed firmly on it to support him. Out of all things that he pictured Theon going through he had never pictured him being under someone else. The reports had never mentioned Mister X doing anything sexual with his victims so he had a small relief that he wouldn't have to experience anything like that. With the knowledge that he had been forced to do it in front of his mother made him sick to his stomach.

Catelyn tried to calm herself. His screams were still ringing loudly in her ears. She was glad that she would never have to hear them again. They had been more bloodcurdling then when she had watched the tape of Ned being killed.

"He made me watch as he was crying and begging for him to stop... I think he thought he was consenting." She said as she tried her best to recount the events. Her not being able to remember anything that could help was adding more to the guilt, it meant that they wouldn't get any closer to finding him.

Robb wanted her to stop talking. He could see vividly the picture of what had went down in his mind and he wanted it to stop. He had heard Theon scream only when he had experienced a repressed memory from childhood or when he had a nightmare about losing Robb. He could just picture what he constantly screaming would be like and how terrifying it would be for him. He didn't work for the special victims unit but he had heard similar stories of how even though they had been forced to do it they still were under the illusion that they had somehow given consent.

There had really only been one other time that was even close to this and that was when Theon was drunk at a bar and a girl started to get a bit to flirty and tried to drag him off to do god knows what to him. Thankfully Robb had been there to stop her robbing him or doing anything worse. It had been scary for the both of them. He never thought that anything worse could happen.

If there was a way that Robb could switch places with Theon and get him away he would do it in a heartbeat. No one should have endured that and everything that happened before hand.

"You couldn't have done anything." Jon said reassuring her that it was a bad situation and what she did meant that she lived and got back to them. Catelyn didn't hear him, she was a little preoccupied at the moment. Catelyn was now the one trying to calm down her son instead of the other way around.

"What happened once he was done that?" Robb said wanting this story to be over with as soon as possible. Catelyn knew what her soon was thinking and got the next part out as soon as she could.

"He…knocked me out again and then he stabbed Theon in the stomach and left him to bleed out. I saw him die. He said that the second week was done and he had grown bored of him. He said he didn't normally do this but he liked to have a witness this time." She was only assuming at this point because she had seen him and she never thought she could fully understand his motivations.

They all looked to Robb at this point. A knife to the chest wouldn't hurt as much as this. Even a barrage of arrows to the back would be less painful. Mister X would be dead where he stood. He didn't care if it took him the rest of his life he would get retribution for what he had done to his family.

Robb's body began to violently tremble. He had prepared how he would feel if it happened but now that the situation was a reality he didn't know what he should be feeling. Bloody red rage was the main one. It was taking centre stage. The others could tell and everyone backed up form him a little to give him some room.

"Why me?" Catelyn asked as she tried to think of a million reasons why she would be the one forced to watch that act. She disliked Theon and couldn't think of why she was chosen. Then again the thought of her son having to go through that would be a psychological shit show.

"Because Mister X couldn't risk kidnapping Robb. He'd be too strong." Jon said. For Mr X even though it would have been for a hilarious laugh to him it would have been a ballsy move and it might pay off if Robb was somehow able to get the upper hand.

Robb was still in complete shock. The guilt that was the worst thing he had ever felt just amplified by at least 50%. Theon was a Greyjoy. He was as tough as iron and he shouldn't have been killed by some random serial killer. He was young too and he should have lived a long life with Robb. He should have spent more time with Yara and the Stark family. He and Catelyn should have at least been given the privilege to talk before he died. Now he wouldn't get any of that.

Cat was halted her silent weeping the best that she could. She could see that her eldest a child was breaking before her. She got up and placed her shaking hand carefully under his chin.

"You will find him. And when he gets to court I will make sure that my testimony will put him away so he can rot in prison. I don't care who I have to talk to I will make sure by the old gods and the new I will get him in prison." Jon said trying to find a way that he could make the situation better but he couldn't find the words.

"I thought you didn't like Theon." Sansa said quietly. Catelyn was guilty of that but then she explained loud and clearly why she did it. "He could have stopped Ramsay from doing it at any time but he told Theon that if he did he would do it to me instead. He went through that to save me." The only thing she wished was that she could have seen this side to Theon sooner.

Robb couldn't love Theon more than he did in this very moment. He didn't like Catelyn but he saved her from Ramsay's wrath. He just wanted to shout out that Theon was a stupid idiot and that he loved him all in the same moment.

Robb had already cried enough over the past couple of weeks. He didn't want to believe that Theon was gone but he had always trusted his mother's word when she saw something as it was always accurate.

Now something else was taking over his sadness. A rage like he hadn't known before. This pure primal instinct. A life that he had held dear to his heart had been taken in such a violent manner. Theon wasn't perfect and he had defiantly fucked up badly a couple of times and he should have thought about what he was doing but none of those were even deserving of what happened.

Thankfully for all of them a knocking at the door. Robb wanting to not think about anything was the first to get up to open it.

In front of them stood Brienne and Podrick. Only about 15 minutes later then they said they'd be. Podrick looked slightly nervous while Brienne was more concerned than anything. "Sorry we would have gotten here sooner but someone got us lost." She apologized while giving a sideways glance to Pod laughed nervously then silencing himself.

"I'm sorry Officer Tarth, I don't go to this area usually." He said explaining himself. It was clear that their attempt to lighten the mood didn't work as they all looked like they had just heard the worst thing they had heard in their lives.

"Anyway where's Catelyn?" Brienne said shocked as she just remembered the reason they were there in the first place.

She saw Catelyn fully and her first though was that she had been stabbed due to all the blood that was on her clothing but when she spoke in a normal tone of voice she knew she was okay. One thing was also visible to her as well. She had been though some kind of traumatic event and Brienne shuddered to think what it could have been.

"Lady Stark what happened?" Catelyn was going to speak but she couldn't find the words. She didn't think that she could describe the event again. Jon knew that there was no more talking out of her tonight. They would do it another time but for now she needed medical treatment and proper rest.

"It's a long story, we'll tell you on the way."


	11. Chapter 11

Theon had tried to sleep. He thought that sleeping it off would make him forget what had happened but every time he closed his eyes he mind would replay the memory of looking at himself in the mirror as Ramsay….

He didn't want to think about it.

Theon awoke to something that he never thought he would have the pleasure of experiencing again.

Laid out before him was a huge dinner. It wasn't anything that fancy. Two steaks, a bowl of chips, mashed potatoes and a couple of vegetables. He wasn't a fan of fancy food but he was so hungry he didn't care.

"Please sit down Reek, we're celebrating."

Theon was going to ask but he knew better then to speak without Ramsay's say so first.

"Do sit down, please."

"Do you like the meat I cooked? It did squirm for a bit but then again human tend to do that when they're about to die."

"I have a lovely meat steak but I gave you the human steak. Only the best for my Reek."

Ramsay wasn't a cannibal himself, he didn't see the point in consuming human flesh unless it was being given to his dogs. The only reason he was doing this was so he could see how desperate he was for food and if his pet was willing to go so far as eating human meat.

The smell was practically orgasmic to Theon at this point but his abdomen was still in the agonising pain from Ramsay's last game. Morally he had no idea where he was, true he hadn't killed the person himself but it was still wrong. He looked to Ramsay to see if it would help him in his decision but it only confused him more.

"Eat, you need it." It was defiantly an order by the way he said it. He was also eager for Theon to get a bit of meat on him, he didn't want to be fucking what was essentially a skeleton and if he was to be his slave as well he would need some muscle mass for simple household tasks.

Theon's mental crisis was reaching its peak. It was sick and a twisted thing to do and his initial thought was to just politely ignore it and only eat some of the vegetable that were on the side. Then again he knew if it was a present from master there was no point in trying to get out of it. Either way he was going to eat it.

Theon picked up the fork but ended up dropping it a couple of times before he got a firm grasp on it. He was horrified with himself for doing this but he knew that he needed to live. Food was what he needed. He should have been asking for death but one thing was stopping him from doing it. He loved life too much. He enjoyed being alive and experiencing the joys of the world. Even though Ramsay had kept him here he still had the smallest bit of hope that he could escape if he bided his time. Soon he had to slip up right?

Ramsay had already had it pre-cut for him, he knew well enough not to give his hostage a sharpened steak knife. Theon was thinking along the lines that he could stab Ramsay with the fork but he knew it wouldn't be enough to kill him. Whatever didn't kill Ramsay made him ruthless.

It surprised Theon. It really didn't taste like steak, it tasted more like a chicken type flavour but it was impossible to put a finger on. He slowly began to eat more. He was disgusted with himself as he ate more but it tasted so good he couldn't help himself.

The more he ate the more Ramsay's grin grew. Theon never took his eyes of the food but he knew that Ramsay was staring at him predatorily and somehow even though it was always how Ramsay looked at him he was still fearful. He looked up at the worst moment as Ramsay had gotten closer to his face and he nearly choked on the human meat. Ramsay was snickering but Theon kept on eating. Ramsay needless to say was turned on at the dinner table but he wasn't going to fuck him here and now. He had a much more special date planned for the future.

Ramsay was as he knew he would have to begrudgingly owe Domeric twenty dollars. He didn't think that Theon would eat it but there he was, wolfing it down. He had never seen a prison eat something so quickly and given the fact that he had told him what it was he was, in a weird way, proud of his pet.

The juice was running down his chin and before Theon could try and lick it Ramsay had beaten him to it. The Bolton's large thumb wiped it away and licked his thumb.

Theon finished the whole thing within 5 minutes and by the time he was done there was nothing left, not even the fat was left for Ramsay to give to his dogs. He was trying his best not to throw it up but the realization of what he had done had punched him in the face and he was sickened with himself. He allowed himself to get down to Ramsay's level and do something as monstrous. The very idea of Ramsay having influenced him somewhat was like a knife to the throat.

"Never been a fan of human flesh." He face turned sour as he tried to spit it out. Ramsay still wasn't a fan of human meat. He had tried but it just wasn't for him. However the idea of feeding it to his prisons was wonderful to him. It was another way of stripping away their humanity and making them easier to break into what he wanted them to be. To be his Reek.

Theon was nearly finished when his stomach decides to start playing up on him. He knew if he threw it up there would be literal hell to pay later on. His struggling was noticed by Ramsay who was waiting with his hands clasped wondering if his toy would fail. Theon was somehow able to find the strength within himself to keep it down and finish the last couple of bites. He felt complete sick to his stomach but yet somehow it felt so good to finally be fed after been force to live on a skinny supermodels diet for over two weeks.

Ramsay got up and stood behind Theon's chair and was edging so close that Theon could feel his hot breath behind his ear, he was trying not to cringe away but it hurt too much. Yesterday's memories flooding back to him, causing a piercing scream before he put his head under the table.

Ramsay would be lying if he said he wasn't slightly freaked out by this type of reaction. He hadn't done anything bad to hurt him to why Theon was screaming was a mystery to him. He pulled him by the hair and brought him back to the original sitting position. He had prepared all of this for him and he was going to enjoy the refinement of it all whether he wanted to or not.

"How about a nice hot relaxing bath?" Ramsay suggested as he took the plate away from Theon and put it in the sink.

Theon was there anymore, he had retreated into his mind trying to make sense of all of this. He had just done that but it was justified, or was it? These were the questions he was asking himself. He could hear Yara now telling him how that was paying the iron price to survive, while the Starks would be disgusted with him. He longed to hug her again. Even if she could be a stone cold bitch to him sometimes she was able to talk to him in a way that made everything okay. He wouldn't even mind his dad if it meant seeing someone besides him.

Ramsay brought Theon up to a small door and he waited for a moment to see Theon's reaction. Theon didn't understand what it was until he got a strange smell coming from the room. He recognised the smell instantly. For a single moment he felt a small comfort, like Ramsay wasn't even there and it was just him by himself where he thrived the most.

It was the sea, or the smell of it rather.

When Ramsay was satisfied that Theon knew what it was he opened the door and led him inside where Ramsay had filled up a bath and had lit blue scented candles around it, if it weren't Ramsay's doing he would have believed that it was something out of a romance movie. Something that Robb would have done in the old days of their relationship.

The bathroom was considerable small and the overall description of it would be plain. Then again it could have been filled with blood and body parts so Theon was sort of grateful that it was so dull.

Theon was hesitant to get in but one look from Ramsay and he was stripping down in front of him once more. Theon was of course terrified that Ramsay would do something to him there and now but Theon didn't think he would care. He had already done it once so if he did it fifty times over it wouldn't make any difference. Ramsay had marked him in every way he could think of. At least Theon still had a small piece of his mind which he could call his sanity.

He got in and instead of being pushed down and drowned Ramsay started to rub his clean of any blood and dirt he had gathered. While the salt was stinging him he couldn't help but feel a little glad because he was finally be cleaned of everything that Ramsay had put him though. The smell of home was also bringing his to a strange type of calmness.

Theon's eyes looked at a bath bomb wrapper and second later he registered the horribleness of it. It had been the same bath bomb that he had used when he was a child. The fact that Ramsay had done this much research was one of the major things that scared him. How he got the information was a mystery to him but then he knew there was only one way he could have known that. Ramsay Bolton had broken into Balon's house and gone through his family's belongings. It was easy for Theon to believe that he was that crazy at this point.

Ramsay brought the cloth down to his back and rubbed it gently to take Theon out of his nostalgic gaze. He wasn't intending on causing him anymore pain in this moment. He made small circles and while Theon tensed he seemed to get used to it quickly.

Theon didn't know what kind of mind game was being played. It was either going to be Ramsay doing something nice then fucking him over again or Ramsay was just doing it to have a major impact on him later.

Ramsay knew exactly what he was doing. He had put him through the worst and since he now knew that everyone he cared about him didn't anymore, Ramsay knew that if he acted kindly towards him now Theon would be more likely to get used to the idea that he is the only one who now cares about him. It was perfect.

Theon was suspicious naturally but that small part in the back of his mind was falling for Ramsay's tricks. He tried to ignore it but he couldn't deny that it was there. It was small but Theon feared that it would become bigger with time. Something he couldn't allow to take him over for if he did allow that to happen he would lose himself and become whatever Ramsay wanted him to be.

"Theon I wanted to ask you something." Ramsay said finally stopping the motions that he was doing on his back. Theon was tense for a moment, he could physically feel his heart stopping for a moment

"Do you like the basement? Be truthful." He said in a way that seemed genuine but clearly conveyed what Theon should say.

"No…" His voice was cracking with fear.

Small droplets of water rolled off his back and into the water. It was the only sound that filled the room. He was lucky that none of the wounds on his back were reopening and was bloodying the bath water. He tried to lie back but Ramsay was in control of how he was sitting. Ramsay's rule was to always be in control at all points.

"Good. I was thinking what if I let you move upstairs with me. In the kennels." The delight in Ramsay's voice was almost childlike. He felt like it was time that his pet get integrated into the new routine. Things were still experimental considering he had never kept a prisoner in his home before and the basement was beginning to smell.

"The Kennels…." Theon was in warm water but his blood turned to ice at the mention of the hounds. He was still getting flash backs of their teeth as they were fake biting at him and terrifying him.

"The kennels what?" Ramsay wanted to hear the missing part of that sentence but it took Theon a moment to realise what he said was wrong and mentally slapped himself for being such an idiot.

"The kennels? Master." He said correcting himself. Ramsay gave him one of his kind and relieved smiles which honestly just made Theon want claw his eyes out. There was such a sickness in Ramsay's dirty blue eyes when he was happy. Theon wondered what colour of eyes his mother had and if she had the creepy unblinking stare that he had or if he got that from his father as well. So many questions about the Bolton family tree yet he doubted he would get any answers that satisfied him.

Ramsay was pouring some generic brand of shampoo as he was talking with Theon. He was going to get him clean for once, though he still liked calling him Reek he couldn't have him stinking up the kennels in his first day there.

"Yes. Won't that be fun? I keep the kennels heated and it's indoors. What do you say?" Some days Ramsay just wanted to fuck Theon while other days he wanted to flay him. It was an odd relationship and Ramsay, in all honesty didn't know how to deal with it.

He wasn't just Ramsay's captive, Theon was Ramsay's new obsession. Ramsay just found that there was something about the way he screamed and the way he was breaking that made him confused. Since Ramsay was a Bolton knowing how healthy, functional relationships worked wasn't exactly one of his strong points. He couldn't feel the normal version of it. Ramsay's idea of love was him being the master and his pet should love him back, cowering in fear was a way of showing respect to him, a way of showing his emaffection./em

Ramsay often considered if he had gotten the feeling of love from his mother because he knew that as sure as hell he didn't get it from his father.

To anyone else it would have sounded horrific but to Theon it sounded like a gift that was too good for him. It would mean nor more of having to sleep in the damp dark basement and more importantly he wouldn't have to be tied to the X, the one thing he wanted more than food and water, just to be down from the bloody X cross.

"Yes Master. I would like that very much." The amount of pathetic tone in his voice was worrying. Every time the word master rolled of his tongue he felt a part of him get physically sick.

"Well then if you would like to follow me I can show you to your new room." He yanked Theon out of the bath and onto the floor, the sudden acclimatization hitting him hard.

Ramsay tossed Theon a towel and let him dry himself off as best he could. It was so soft that it had to be some kind of trap. It just had to be. He then slowly began to dry himself off but it seemed that he had kept Ramsay waiting too long and he ended up snatching the towel back quickly and then rubbed him harshly until he was all dry. His hair still slightly damp. The harshness of the towel ended up reopening the small back wounds but thankfully it wasn't the biggest one.

em"Now come along Reek, time to meet my bitches."/em

The kennels stank of dog but Theon expected it to be a lot worse considering there were at least 5 dogs and he knew how much dogs could stink. The starks had 6 dire wolfs and when they were all in the one area it could get really overpowering. There was also the heating which Theon hadn't felt for so long. He almost found it funny how the dogs were being treated better than he was.

At the smell of the freshly washed Theon all the dogs began to bark. The smell of the new threat made them agitated and Theon was anxious with the deeper he got into the kennel.

"Down girls!" Ramsay yelled. Without any more hesitation his dogs backed down and went about their business as if nothing had happened. Theon wondered if asked on command would he do something like that for Roadhog.

The walk seemed to take an eternity. Theon had noted that there were three empty kennels but Ramsay was taking him to the one at specifically the end of the room. Theon didn't need it to be explained. If he was kept at the front he would escape without alerting the dogs. It was a brilliant tactically move by Ramsay, then again everything up to this point had been

They reached the small pen which was Theon's new accommodations.

"A little tip, all my dogs are bitches so refer to them as she until you learn the names properly." He felt that Theon would talk to the dogs for company so he might as get to know them on a first name basis.

Theon didn't know where the courage came from but he managed to pipe up the courage to ask him a question. "Why are you being so nice to me master?"

The question surprise Ramsay but he was more than happy to answer. He was also pleased that Theon was calling him master without having to think about. Another step in his transition.

"You were good for me yesterday. You did as I said. You deserve a reward for that and you ate the food even knowing what it was."

Theon could see a way for him to get by. He would have to do anything he said then maybe it would be a hell of a lot easier. He would do whatever his master said. Even if it meant letting go of whatever little pride he had left to do whatever it meant to keep him happy.

"Well, I'll let you get settle with the dogs. Goodnight Reek." He said sing song as he pushed him down onto the cold floor of the jail cell and slamming the door narrowly missing his toes.

"Goodnight master." He said in a weak voice as he watched Ramsay lock the door and walk away whistling as if nothing in the world was wrong. He placed his head on the bars and was telling himself to keep it together.

He would have fallen asleep. Would have being the key words. The dogs got rowdy when Theon tried to cry and they began their vicious barking.

He told himself tomorrow was another day meaning another major disintegration of his sanity.

Another day of the game being played.

The time at the station had been undoubtedly the worst thing that Robb, Jon and Cat had ever had the pleasure of doing. It had been so detailed and seeing how they asked Catelyn every single question that they could think off was just exhausting. Jon had offered Robb a ride home which he gladly accepted. Catelyn would be staying with Brienne for the night as they didn't want to risk her safety again.

"Catelyn's statement was good. We can use it." Jon mentioned will sipping at his cup of coffee which had the words traitor on it. It was a gift from his former boss Allister Thorne. He was glad to be rid of that out of date murderer. Jon could feel a small twinge in his stab wound at the thought of him. It had been almost two years but it still was fresh in his mind how his old team had betrayed him and left him for dead.

Robb would have heard him but he was so engrossed with his work that he didn't hear. He kept a mini version of the case files on his phone so that he could look at it as many times as he needed to. He was trying to fool himself into thinking that I he looked over it enough times then he would see thing that wasn't there before. Something that could be the key to all of this.

"He's dead. I can't believe it."

Jon sighed. He knew that he had to say something to him to make him feel better. They had confirmed that he was dead not just by Catelyn's statement but the amount of his blood that was on her dress. It had teased as Theon's and there was too much blood, no one could have survived losing that much. In reality he had taken some of Theon's blood while he was unconscious and splattered it over the dress. He had made sure that one of his father's friends in forensics sampled the right part of the dress.

"Robb, his life was cut short but you don't have to do the same." Jon didn't have time to think about what he had just said but Robb had.

"The hell are you talking about?" He asked shocked at what he might have been implying.

Jon was trying to think of the words for how he could save his ass before Robb punched him in the face. "You seem really guilty about all of this and I just want you to know that you can talk to people about it." He said trying not to poke the bear anymore.

"Do you think I'm going to fucking kill myself?" The Jon said it made it pretty fucking clearly what he was trying to imply and he was having one of those kinds of talk not here. Jon seemed pretty freaked out by the whole thing. He knew it was pretty fucked up to imply it but Robb was his cousin and friend and he needed to know that he wouldn't be leaving to be with him.

"No, God no. I'm just saying its bad mentally. All of this. I am talking to our old therapist. He's giving me advice." Robb said apologetically. He knew that it was wrong to snap at Jon but he couldn't help, people just kept on asking him unnecessary questions and it was beginning to piss him off. Especially Rickon's questions. Like when would he be coming back?

"Good, that's good." The tension in the car had only been slightly deflated but it was still pretty awkward overall.

The car ride was sufficiently awkward after Jon's slip of tongue. Robb wasn't going to consider such a cowardly option. He had so much to live for, his mother, his job hunting down Mister X and seeing the bastard put on death row for his crimes. He could picture it now. Him being the one who did the execution. As his father always said "the man who passes the punishment must pass the execution."

Theon never believed in that punishment unless it was necessary. He was like Jon and believed that criminals could be reformed at Castle Black prison or "the wall" as the nights watch team called it. He was considering joint the nights watch because he felt useless just working on boats all his life but Theon wasn't exactly the strongest and he didn't pass the physical even though his written exam was nearly prefect. Robb simply liked to put it that he had straw for bones.

"Theon would have wanted him dead." Jon could see Robb's reflection in the car window and it was a signature dark Robb look. The one that said he was in a mood not to be fucked with. Trying to comfort him when he was like this was nearly impossible. He rarely listened unless they had a good point or agreeing opinion.

"He'll get the death penalty. I'll see to that personally." He gave his word on this. He had taken away a member of his family and he wasn't going to let another family feel that same pain. He may have been a bastard child but he was hunting down the bastards who were worse than him.

When Jon had pulled up to Robb's apartment he stopped the car. Jon kept Robb in the car by grabbing his arm just before he left. Robb was going to pull away but Jon had something to say.

"He's going to strike again and we need all the help we can get. I want you to join the nights watch full time. You won't have to take orders from Brienne. Only me and Eddison." He didn't want to sound like he was preaching about how great it was but he needed to get Robb on his side here.

"I….I don't know. I don't want to think about Theon. Every time I go into that room, I think of all the time we spent trying to find him and then how we couldn't…How I couldn't…" It couldn't leave his lips but he had thought about this a million times.

"But we catch King's Landings worst killers including Mr X. He's going to slip up soon I know it. They always do." Jon was beginning to lose hope of catching him but all the killers he had faced all made one mistake. It wasn't that Mr X was good it was just that they hadn't been able to find his one mistake yet.

He had always thought that Robb was meant to do something more than just be another detective. Jon could see potential for higher status in the police station. Another good thing would be that he wouldn't have to be under Brienne and Jamie's thumb all the time and taking their commands. Jon found that his job kept him occupied in the hardest of times and when things weren't so bad it gave him a sense of accomplishment.

"I can't now. But I think I will." Robb had seen grief before and would need something to keep him occupied. He couldn't go through it again. He couldn't.

"Welcome aboard. I'll let you have one and a half months then you come by and join up." He shook his hand and then Robb enveloped him in a hug. He just needed someone to hug. It had been a hell of a day and he just needed some form of comfort. This went on until it went past the point of sufficient awkwardness.

"Thank you. Now I think I'm gonna go home. Grey Wind is probably wondering where I've been" He looked out the window and up to the apartment. It was only now occurring to him that he hand't been back since the fight. He had called one of Bran and Rickon's babysitters to look after Grey wind while he was out. He made a note that he would have to pay Osha for her services later.

"See you later."

Robb left the car silently and made his way up slowly to the apartment. When he got to the door he had to take a couple of moments before he could bring himself to push the door open. He knew that he would have to face the memory of the last time he was here, when the last thing he said to him was em"You were so useless"/em

Strangely enough he didn't have to worry about seeing it as when he got in the house he was instantly knocked over by Grey Wind who had clearly missed him as his face was met with dog slobbers and happy barking. Robb gave his dog lots of affection back. In all this bleakness it was nice to see that at least someone was happy.

Robb looked at the wall clock and he knew that he needed the sleep.

When Robb was finally getting to bed he heard scraping at the door and opened it to see a confused looking Grey Wind. The hound was so used to seeing the other body in the bed with Robb so the fact that he was missing was upsetting him.

"Come on boy, you can sleep beside me." He patted the spot where Theon would normally lie. Even the feeling of it being empty was hard for him to fathom.

He would have liked to say that he fell instantly a sleep but that would have been a lie. He promised himself he would breakdown again. Grey Wind had one job that night, being there for his master. Being there to help him get through the tears and the anger and every other emotion that it entailed.

The night passed quickly but tomorrow was a new day.

Another day of the game being played.


End file.
